A woman charged with six others in a 2015 double homicide has pleaded guilty to two kidnapping charges.
Michelle Faye Hughes, 28, of Gary, pleaded guilty Tuesday to the kidnappings of Aareon Lackey, 18, and Antonio Lackey, 16, who were killed on June 26, 2015, in Hobart.
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In court documents, Hughes admitted that her conduct helped that of her co-defendants, Jeri Woods; Woods’ husband, David Johnson IV; Johnson’s father, David Johnson III; David Johnson IV’s son, David Johnson V; Kiontay Cason, and Hughes; boyfriend, Aarion Greenwood, who also is a son of David Johnson IV. The kidnapping of the Lackey brothers resulted in their deaths, Hughes admitted in court records.
The plea agreement outlines a sentence of five to 16 years on each count. A Nov. 17 sentencing hearing has been scheduled.
On June 26, 2015, Hughes admitted she drove a car with Greenwood and “led and directed the co-defendants who were in a van” to the Country Inn and Suites in Merrillville to confront Aareon Lackey, the document states. The purpose of the trip was for the defendants to retrieve a .38-caliber revolver that had been previously given to Aareon Lackey. David Johnson IV, David Johnson V, Greenwood, Cason and Hughes went into the motel, made contact with the Lackey brothers, and then confronted Aareon Lackey regarding the whereabouts of the revolver, the agreement said.
Aareon Lackey and Antonio Lackey were removed from the motel. Antonio Lackey got into the Pontiac Bonneville driven by Hughes, and Aareon Lackey tried to get into the same car, but instead was forced by David Johnson IV into a van parked outside, documents said.
Hughes drove Greenwood, David Johnson V and Antonio Lackey to a trailer park in Lake Station to try to retrieve the revolver that Aareon Lackey had traded or sold to a man who lived there, while David Johnson III drove the van with Woods, Cason, David Johnson IV and Aareon Lackey to the trailer park, documents said. Eventually both vehicles and their occupants ended up at property in the 7000 block of Grand Boulevard in Hobart, where Woods fatally shot the teens, documents said. Their bodies were found three weeks later.
Woods, 35, is serving a 120-year sentence for the two murders. David Johnson IV, 39, was sentenced last week to 195 years in prison, including 130 years for murder in perpetration of kidnapping in the Lackey homicides, and 65 years for the murder of Alfred Wiley Sr., 46, which occurred April 28, 2015, in the Miller section of Gary.
Cason, 23, and David Johnson V, 21, both pleaded guilty to two counts of kidnapping and are awaiting sentencing. They testified against Woods and David Johnson IV.
Greenwood, 19, and David Johnson III, 64, have pleaded not guilty.
Ruth Ann Krause is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.