Lake Superior Judge Gina Jones sentenced Jordan Meekins Friday to a 22-year split term for killing a marijuana dealer during a botched drug buy outside a Hobart apartment complex.
Meekins, 19, of Hobart, pleaded guilty in March to voluntary manslaughter. He faced 10-30 years.
He got 20 years in prison and two years on work release. During the hearing, he indicated he would not appeal.
Hobart Police responded around 5 p.m. July 8, 2025, to an apartment complex on the 300 block of Ruta Drive. There, they found the marijuana dealer, Tristan Tomak-Trevino, 19, of South Haven, shot dead.
Authorities alleged co-defendant Amare South was going to use counterfeit cash to pay Trevino. Meekins was there with South and co-defendant Marquis Bonaparte.
The situation quickly escalated into a gunfight.
After Trevino got the cash, South snatched the marijuana quickly from him. Suspecting he was getting scammed, Trevino went for his gun, records show.
Meekins pistol-whipped Trevino in the face multiple times. Trevino fired multiple shots at South, who was wounded. Meekins shot Trevino twice, killing him.
During Friday’s hearing, Meekins’ stepfather Troy Miller and mother Janay Meekins asked for mercy.
Miller noted he had spent about five years in federal prison after a drug-dealing conviction in the early 2000s and was able to rebuild his life.
“My life stands as proof rehabilitation is possible,” he said.
Janay told the court that she pressed for her son’s employer to call the police and press charges after he allegedly stole a gun at 17 so he could face consequences. At that point, he was living with her and she pored through his cell phone.
Two of her relatives had died from gun violence, she told the court. By the time Trevino’s shooting happened, Jordan lived with another relative, not her.
“I wish it was something different I could have done,” she later told Trevino’s family.
Trevino’s mother wrote in a letter read in court that he was “full of so much personality” and could “make anyone laugh.”
“He did not deserve to die,” she wrote.
Deputy Prosecutor Judy Massa, with co-counsel Maureen Koonce, said it was “shocking” how young the teen defendants were and that the victim was “brazenly” killed in “broad daylight.”
Everyone was armed.
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It was a “drug deal gone bad,” she said.
Meekins “tried to hide” his role and later ditched the weapon in a ravine, Massa said.
His mom tried to “scare him straight” with the juvenile case for a gun theft and dangerous possession of a firearm. Unfortunately, just over a year later, he was charged in Trevino’s death, she said.
She asked for 28 years.
Defense lawyer James Dillon said it was a “very tragic situation.”
His client pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter under “sudden heat” – or an imminent threat – because Trevino had already shot South. It was an “imperfect self-defense” case, he argued.
Massa retorted that Trevino had already been pistol whipped before he opened fire and was fighting for his life.
Jones told both families she was empathetic to their struggles and the case was “traumatic” for her, too.
“I believe you all tried,” she told Meekins’ family. Your momma “whooped you into submission and it didn’t work.”
For the shooting, he was responsible for his own actions, Jones said.
After the hearing, Dillon said he wasn’t sure if Jones asked his client if he wanted to speak before he was sentenced. He was assisted by co-counsel Rinzer Williams and Amishi Sanghvi.
It was not immediately clear if it could be an issue if Meekins chooses to appeal. Indiana law gives defendants a 30-day deadline.