INDIANAPOLIS -- A plot to rob an alleged drug dealer in the Brookside neighborhood in April ended with his murder over a bag of weed and meth, according to new charges filed Monday in Marion County.
Jimmy McKinley, 39, was found riddled with bullets in his home in the 2800 block of Brookside Avenue on April 17. An autopsy found McKinley had been shot in both of his legs, his right hand, his lower abdomen and twice in his left arm. The coroner determined his cause of death as a gunshot wound to the trunk.
Following his death, detectives learned from his girlfriend that McKinley kept an Army camouflage-type bag with him at all times in which he kept drugs and money.
PREVIOUS | Victim identified in Brookside shooting
Two other witnesses told police they had visited McKinley’s home to buy drugs earlier that afternoon. They said he sold heron and methamphetamine, and that he had a large amount of marijuana for sale because he had just bought a new batch to sell.
Other residents in McKinley’s Brookside neighborhood told police they heard multiple gunshots, then saw a man and woman running from his home. The woman looked like she was concealing something in her jacket.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case, detectives obtained multiple pieces of surveillance footage showing the man and woman running from the house and into a vehicle, which they were able to link by its license plate to 22-year-old James Broadus, of Indianapolis.
The female suspect was identified as 21-year-old Brijuana Jones, also of Indianapolis.
MAP | 2017 Indianapolis Homicides
On May 3, IMPD SWAT officers assisted detectives in serving a search warrant on Broadus’ vehicle in the 7000 block of Merganser Drive. Broadus was found sleeping in the back seat of the vehicle.
Along with Broadus, officers reportedly found individually wrapped baggies of marijuana, along with two cell phones.
A subsequent search of a unit in the Oakwood Trail Apartment complex in connection with the case turned up a 9mm handgun magazine believed to belong to Broadus.
According to the affidavit, Broadus denied having anything to do with McKinely’s murder and said he didn’t “even know where Brookside is, to be honest with you.”
On June 22, detectives conducted an interview with Jones, who said she was the female seen in surveillance footage from near McKinely’s home. She said she had been receiving threats regarding his death, and that she was scared.
Under questioning, Jones reportedly confessed to robbing McKinley.
Jones told police someone who McKinley had reportedly “set up” on a robbery had informed her that she could hit McKinley for a big pay day.
She said she called Broadus and another man to assist in the robbery. When they arrived at McKinely’s home, she said she told him she wanted to buy weed, then asked to go upstairs to use the restroom. While she was checking to see if anyone else was home, Jones said she heard gunshots downstairs. When she came down, McKinley was bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds.
She told police she wrapped the bag containing the drugs and money in her jacket and she and Broadus ran from the house.
Jones was taken into custody immediately following her interview on preliminary charges of murder and robbery. On Monday, prosecutors filed formal charges of murder and robbery against her and Broadus, who also faces a misdemeanor count of carrying a handgun without a license.
Both were being held at the Marion County Jail without bail.
MORE FROM THE CRIME BEAT | Arrest made in 8-year-old Indianapolis cold case | Homicide victims rarely become organ donors. Scott Morin was one of the few | Greenwood man 'set up' for 2-year-old's false kidnapping a day before her guardianship hearing | At least 13 people overdosed in Indianapolis on Monday. It was an average day | Homicide Map so far in 2017
---
Jordan Fischer is the senior digital reporter covering crime and justice issues for RTV6. Send news tips to jordan.fischer@wrtv.com.
