INDIANAPOLIS -- A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday about an alleged Indianapolis gang calling themselves "The Mob" revealed new details about the murder of 19-year-old Malik Perry in 2015.
Perry was found fatally shot in an alley in the 4100 block of Byram Avenue on Oct. 13, 2015. It was one of four homicides that shocked the Butler-Tarkington community in the fall of 2015.
Until this week, no arrests had ever been announced in the case.
In an indictment unsealed Tuesday, federal investigators laid out the results of an 18-month investigation into an alleged gang called "The Mob" connected to 24 pharmacy robberies in Indianapolis and Kentucky between December 2014 and June 2016.
Members of "The Mob" are alleged to have recruited juveniles, who they called "peons," to help them rob pharmacies. Those drugs were then sold on the streets of Indianapolis.
FULL STORY | Feds: 'The Mob' recruited kids as gang members to rob pharmacies, sell guns
As part of the indictment, investigators detailed a fatal shooting in the 4100 block of Byram Avenue on Oct. 13, 2015 – the same date and location as the murder of Malik Perry.
MAPS | 2015 Indianapolis Homicides | 2016 Indianapolis Homicides | 2017 Indianapolis Homicides
In the indictment, investigators detail the steps they believe led to Perry's fatal shooting:
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During the afternoon of Oct. 13, 2015, alleged "The Mob" members Larry Warren, Justin Rudolph and three other unidentified subjects met at an apartment in the 3700 block of North Meridian Street to plan a pharmacy robbery. Rudolph reportedly agreed to be the driver.
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As the group exited the building, they were approached by an IMPD officer. As the officer spoke to Rudolph, he attempted to discard Alprazolam pills in his possession – leading to his arrest.
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The group then recruited the purported gang member identified in the indictment as "John Doe a/k/a Toro" to replace Rudolph as driver for a robbery at the CVS pharmacy located at 6290 North College Avenue.
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When the group arrived at the pharmacy, Warren, two juvenile gang members and two individuals only identified as "Individual #1" and "Individual #3" (Malik Perry) entered the pharmacy and robbed it of approximately 100 Vicodin tablets and 200 units of Promethazine.
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While driving back to the Butler-Tarkington neighborhood, Perry and Individual #1, believed to be a juvenile, apparently got into an argument over the division of the stolen drugs.
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According to the indictment, when the group arrived in the 4100 block of Byram Avenue, Perry exited the vehicle with the drugs taken from the robbery. At that point, "Individual #1 exited the vehicle, approached [Perry] from behind, shot [Perry] in the head and other locations, and took the controlled substances from [Perry.]"
Deputy U.S. Attorney Brad Blackington said at a press conference Tuesday that "Individual #1" had been charged with murder in Perry's death, but declined to provide further information – except to imply that the suspect is a juvenile.
"Right now the defendant charged in the murder is not named in the adult indictment," Blackington said in response to questions about whether the alleged shooter is a juvenile.
The Butler-Tarkington neighborhood has not had a homicide since the string of four homicides in eight weeks that included Perry's death in 2015. The remaining three homicides – Marshawn Frazier, 20, Clarence Havvard, 32, and Deshaun Swanson, 10 – remain unsolved.
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Jordan Fischer is the senior digital report for RTV6 covering crime and justice issues. Follow his reporting on Facebook and on Twitter at @Jordan_RTV6.
