A Gary teen is facing an attempted murder charge after he allegedly shot at a Gary gas station attendant behind bulletproof glass, records show.
Kelijah Hutchinson, 19, of Gary, is also charged with attempted battery by means of a deadly weapon and two misdemeanors.
He is still in custody, held on a $10,000 cash bond.
Co-defendants Nation Hutchinson, 24, his sister, and Nysaiah Hutchinson, 22, his brother, both of Gary, are charged with assisting a criminal and a misdemeanor. Nysaiah is also charged with possession of methamphetamine, records show.
They were released on bond this week.
Gary Police responded Aug. 8 to the Citgo gas station, 4901 Melton Road. The gas station attendant told officers he was behind the bulletproof glass counter just after 10 a.m. when a male in a grey-blue hoodie, face mask and black sweatpants fired a shot toward him.
About a half-hour earlier, the same male was “arguing” with him and “stole a bottle of water” as he was checking out, the attendant told police.
A Gary detective accessed the gas station’s camera footage remotely via the Real Time Crime Center. The footage appeared to show a male and female arguing with the attendant.
The attendant chased them with a “long stick” toward their green Acura, charges state. He allegedly tried to smash the rear windshield and then recorded the pair with a cellphone.
Flock cameras tracked the vehicle to an apartment building on the 800 block of N. County Line Road.
Police accessed the apartment’s cameras remotely. It appeared to show the woman walking outside to put a weapon in the car. The affidavit alleges she left the gun inside the vehicle with a child inside, while she briefly went back inside the apartment.
An affidavit states police used “Clearview AI” to match the woman’s face to a YouTube profile, then used Spillman, a police database, finding a woman’s legal name who lived at the apartment building.
She is not charged in the case, according to public court filings.
A search of her associates led them to Kelijah, her ex-boyfriend, records show.
Police later found him at his siblings’ apartment. Both siblings refused to leave the apartment. Police arrested them, filings show. Kelijah jumped out the back window.
Kelijah told police that he didn’t realize the woman didn’t pay for the water. The gas station attendant didn’t know the child was in the backseat as he tried to smash the back glass, records state. The affidavit states the vehicle was her grandmother’s.
He was “mad” and “could not afford” to get the glass fixed, he told police.
His siblings were trying to protect him, he told police.