Two Indianapolis teenagers are now in custody in connection with the December killing of a 55-year-old man outside a near-north-side gas station, a case that has rattled a busy stretch of West 38th Street. Desmond Lee Perry Sr. was shot at the BP on West 38th Street on the evening of Dec. 6 and later died at a hospital, his family said. Relatives told reporters the confrontation started over what they described as a BB gun. One of the youths, a 15-year-old, has already been preliminarily charged in the case.
According to The Indianapolis Star, investigators say two 15-year-old boys were taken into custody this month in connection with the Dec. 6 shooting. Court documents reviewed by the paper show that one 15-year-old was preliminarily charged on March 2 with felony murder and robbery resulting in death, and detectives detained him after a separate incident in February, the report says.
Where It Happened And Family Reaction
The shooting happened inside the BP at 37 W. 38th Street, a station that had more than 60 police runs in the prior year, WRTV reported. Family members told the station that Perry "knew his Bible from front to back, back to front" and described him as a devoted father. They have called the killing senseless, another life cut short at a corner that already kept officers busy.
Legal Implications
The charges so far remain preliminary, and it will be up to prosecutors to decide whether to file formal counts and whether to seek to move the case to adult court, according to court documents and reporting by The Indianapolis Star. Under Indiana law, robbery and related offenses that result in serious injury or death are treated as higher-level felonies, which can carry long prison terms if an adult is convicted. Juvenile proceedings follow separate rules set out in state law, and Indiana statutes provide the legal framework.
City Response And Context
City leaders, facing a spike in youth-involved incidents like this one, have rolled out a spring-break safety plan that includes a downtown "Connection Center" for juveniles and stepped-up curfew enforcement. The effort is part of a broader push officials say is intended to reduce violence involving younger people, according to the Indianapolis Recorder. Police and prosecutors have pointed to recent juvenile arrests as evidence that the city is trying to stop an uptick in shootings that pull teens into deadly situations.
Investigators are still looking to firm up exactly what happened inside the gas station that night and are asking anyone with information about the Dec. 6 incident to contact IMPD Homicide Detective Steven Gray at 317-327-3475 or Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-8477, according to WRTV. The suspects remain presumed innocent while the investigation continues and any court proceedings move forward.
