Two 17-year-olds are charged as adults in connection with an Oct. 30 incident in McCordsville that police say involved multiple alleged gunpoint robberies and a pistol-whipping. Travis Anthony Kessler of New Palestine and Dylan Joshua-Ray Asher of Indianapolis each face nine felony counts.
The charges include one Level 2 felony count of attempted robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, two Level 3 felony counts of armed robbery and six Level 3 felony counts of attempted armed robbery for each teen, according to The Daily Reporter. McCordsville police were called to Sycamore Drive around 10:30 p.m. that Friday. Four teenagers told officers they had been robbed at gunpoint; one said he had been struck with a gun.
A Chaotic Scene Near a Party
Police said two males in a Civic stopped the four teenagers as they left a party. The reported incidents included a cellphone theft and an assault with a gun. A 16-year-old victim had bleeding cuts above his left eye and on his right cheek, and swelling around his left eye.
A person who picked up one of the teens gave police a recording of part of the encounter, according to the report. It showed a male approaching people near a Mustang with a hand tucked under his sweatshirt, then pointing a gun at a teen getting into the car. That teen told police the man had asked people whether they wanted to buy alcohol; after the teen declined, the man allegedly pointed the gun at his chest. The teen handed over $200, he said, to make the man leave.
Tracking a Stolen Phone to an Arrest
Police used an active tracker on the stolen phone to follow its signal south on County Road 600 West toward County Road 600 North, the report says. Officers stopped a westbound Civic on Airport Boulevard from North 600 West. They identified Kessler as the driver and Asher as the passenger, and reported smelling marijuana in the car and alcohol on both teens’ breath.
According to the police report cited by the outlet, Kessler and Asher threw a gun from the car during the stop; officers later recovered it. The teens and their guardians were taken to the McCordsville Police Department for interviews. Kessler told officers there were two backpacks of unopened alcohol in the car and said Asher had brought the gun and alcohol, though he did not know where Asher got them.
Kessler's Account of the Robbery
Kessler told police that Asher had been trying to sell alcohol near the party and later returned to the car with money and a phone. Kessler said Asher told him he had hit someone with the gun to take the phone. He also said Asher got out of the car, struck a teen in a larger group and took that teen’s phone.
Bond Set, Pretrial Hearing Scheduled
Kessler and Asher appeared for an initial hearing by Zoom before Judge D.J. Davis of Hancock Superior Court 1, the outlet reports. Davis set a cash bond of $50,000 for Asher and $25,000 for Kessler, ordered no contact between the defendants and the victims, and entered not-guilty pleas on their behalf. A pretrial hearing has been scheduled for Nov. 18.
How Indiana Sends Some Teens to Adult Court
Indiana law sends certain felony allegations against 16- and 17-year-olds directly to adult court, a process the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute calls “direct file.” The institute reported that juvenile cases filed in adult court rose 25% in State Fiscal Year 2024 compared with State Fiscal Year 2023, and 120% compared with State Fiscal Year 2022. Those statewide figures provide context for the process but do not explain the circumstances of this case.
Both teens are charged as adults but are being held at a juvenile facility in another county rather than in the Hancock County jail, according to The Daily Reporter. The case echoes another recent Daily Reporter report involving two Noblesville 17-year-olds, Xavier Allen Jaggers and Nicco G. Matteucci, who were each charged with two Level 3 felony counts of armed robbery and a Level 5 felony count of intimidation after a June 8 incident in which a Hancock County teen was pistol-whipped in a wooded area near McCordsville's Stansbury neighborhood and suspects allegedly stole a victim's gun and $50 cash; as reported by The Daily Reporter, Jaggers had an initial hearing in the same court, where a $30,000 cash bond was set and a public defender was appointed.
