Man found guilty of murdering friend in 2019 armed robbery on Indianapolis' north side

INDIANAPOLIS — A man has been convicted in a 2019 robbery that resulted in the death of a person he told investigators he had been friends with since high school.

A Marion County jury found Ron-Ricco Duncan guilty in the murder of Gerald Beamon Jr. after a four-day trial, according to the Marion County Prosecutor's Office.

Prosecutors alleged Duncan helped set up the robbery in April 2019 on the city's north side in which Beamon was fatally shot. Duncan and Beamon were both 18 at the time.

Police responded about 9:30 a.m. April 1, 2019, to the 3200 block of North Ruckel Street for a welfare check of a person in a vacant apartment. There, they found a deceased male inside, later identified as Beamon.

Beamon was found face down with several shell casings around his body, the Prosecutor's Office said.

An autopsy determined the cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds to the body and the death was ruled a homicide.

Beamon's family, who had reported him missing two days prior, told investigators he was last seen with Duncan walking toward the vacant complex. Witnesses reported hearing gunshots about 30 minutes after the two had left for the building, the Prosecutor's Office said.

An investigation found Duncan had talked about Beamon's death to other people on social media after the shooting.

Duncan was arrested in September 2019 in connection with Beamon's death.

Duncan later told police during interviews that he had been friends with Beamon since high school and that they worked together at a restaurant. He later gave conflicting information about the circumstances of Beamon's death before ultimately admitting he helped set up the robbery which resulted in his death, the Prosecutor's Office said.

Duncan was found guilty of all charges against him: two felony counts of murder and armed robbery.

Duncan is scheduled to be sentenced May 19 in Marion County Criminal Court.