A South Bend jury found 36-year-old Tonell Williams guilty of murder this week in the January shooting death of 21-year-old Jacob Patchen of Mishawaka, who was gunned down while driving through one of the city's busiest intersections. Williams was also convicted of a felony firearm enhancement and pleaded guilty to a habitual offender enhancement, setting up a sentencing hearing next month that could keep him behind bars for decades.
According to wndu.com, the jury deliberated for about two hours before returning the verdict Thursday. Patchen was found critically injured in his vehicle on January 11 in the 100 block of Angela Boulevard near Michigan Street and later died at the hospital, the station reported. Police said Patchen was shot from outside his vehicle while driving east on Angela Boulevard, and a juvenile relative riding with him was not injured.
Williams was convicted of murdering 21-year-old Jacob Patchen in the January 11 shooting at Angela Boulevard and Michigan Street and was also found guilty of a felony firearm enhancement.
How Investigators Tied Williams to the Shooting
Officers were called around 7:20 p.m. on January 11 to the area of Michigan Street and Angela Boulevard after reports of gunfire, the same report notes. Detectives used surveillance footage to identify a boxy SUV at the scene as a Cadillac Escalade registered to Williams, a detail that helped build the case against him in the weeks that followed.
Sentencing Ranges and a Disputed Total
Williams is scheduled to be sentenced on November 18. The station's report lists a sentencing range of 45 to 65 years for the murder conviction, five to 20 years for the felony firearm enhancement, and eight to 20 years for the habitual offender enhancement. Those figures track with state sentencing guidance: the Indiana Public Defender Council's sentencing table lists a five-year minimum and 20-year maximum for a use-of-firearm enhancement, while the Indiana Department of Correction describes a habitual offender finding as a status that enhances a sentence rather than a separate crime carrying its own consecutive term.
Coverage of the total exposure Williams faces has varied. WSBT reported that Williams faces more than 100 years in prison, while the separately reported sentencing ranges for the murder charge and its two enhancements, taken individually, add up differently depending on how they are combined. The final sentence will be determined at the November 18 hearing.
