INDIANAPOLIS — A Marion County man has been convicted of murder for a fatal shooting that occurred after he used social media deception to lure his victim outside.
Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced that Nichale Johnson was found guilty in the October 2020 death of Rashaad Germany. After three days of evidence and testimony, Marion County jurors returned a guilty verdict.
According to court documents, on October 30, 2020, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officers discovered Germany's body in the front yard of a residence in the 3300 block of Ashland Avenue on the east side of Indianapolis.
He had suffered multiple gunshot wounds. The victim had been living with his grandmother just a couple hundred feet away from where his body was found.
Investigators learned that Germany had been communicating via social media with someone he believed was a high school classmate prior to the shooting.
According to the messages, Germany had agreed to meet this person outside his home. The final messages were exchanged just minutes before the murder occurred.
Further investigation revealed that Johnson had contacted Germany's former classmate to gain access to their social media account. Johnson then used that account to deceive Germany, who believed he was communicating with his actual classmate. Through this deception, Johnson obtained Germany's address and set up the fatal encounter.
The messages clearly showed that Germany believed he was meeting his classmate—not Johnson—that night.
Johnson's social media records revealed he had reached out to multiple people attempting to use their profiles to lure Germany. He also used social media to obtain a firearm before the murder.
"Digital footprints provided key evidence in this case," said Prosecutor Ryan Mears. "Not only did it lead us to the defendant, but it also revealed the cruel and calculated efforts of the defendant to lure the victim to his tragic and senseless death."
During an interview with detectives, Johnson admitted he wanted to find out where Germany lived because he wanted to fight him. He said he used the fake account to "surprise" Germany.
