Charges were filed Tuesday against a Merrillville man more than eight years after records allege he fatally shot one man and injured another in a Gary apartment.
Willie Wallace Jr., 26, is charged with murder; attempted murder, a Level 1 felony; aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony; battery with a deadly weapon, a Level 5 felony; and felony firearm enhancements. After re-opening the investigation and conducting numerous witness interviews, Gary Police Detective Daryl Gordon and the Lake County Prosecutor’s Homicide Task Force were able to secure charges against Wallace, according to a news release.
On June 20, 2018, Gary officers responded to an apartment in the 230 block of East Ridge Road, the affidavit states. One man told police that he was shot in the collarbone and hip and directed police to a man on the kitchen floor, who was lying in a pool of blood and appeared lifeless.
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The second man was identified as Derricko Rogers, records state. An autopsy report from the Lake County Coroner’s Office determined that Rogers died from a gunshot wound to the head at a downward trajectory.
The man who survived the shooting told police that Rogers was in the kitchen with some unknown men when a disagreement erupted, court records state. Rogers asked for the man’s car keys, but when he walked into the kitchen to retrieve them he was shot in the hip and collarbone.
He checked in the bedrooms to see if anyone else was shot and later found Rogers bleeding on the kitchen floor, the affidavit states. One of the men with Rogers was Willie Wallace Jr., who goes by the aliases of Scottie Pippen and Scottie Mob, but the man wasn’t sure if Wallace had fired a weapon.
A witness told police that they saw Rogers and two men throwing dice in the dining room, but later awoke to the sound of gunshots, court records state. The witness saw Wallace fleeing the apartment and identified him in a photo lineup.
A second witness said her uncle was there with some friends and recognized Wallace as being in the apartment, records state.
In May 2019, Wallace uploaded a song under his Scottie Mob alias, titled “Exposing ME (Remis) (Purge to Me), which appears to show him rapping about “D Bo,” a.k.a. Rogers. He mentions having a “Nina,” which is slang for a 9mm handgun, the affidavit states. Police found five spent 9mm casings at the crime scene. There are also lyrics that police believe depicted Rogers being shot at close range, at a downward angle, and being found on the kitchen floor, court records state.
Police obtained a warrant to search Facebook records belonging to Wallace. The records showed Wallace sending images depicting a Jimenez 9mm firearm to someone in the hours after Rogers’ death, records state. Police believe that Wallace was trying to sell the gun after using it recently.
Police tried to interview Wallace, but he refused to speak after being advised of his rights, the affidavit states.
Others who assisted in the investigation were Hobart Assistant Police Chief Nicholas Wardrip of the Hobart Police Department, GRIT and Lake County CSI division.
Anyone with further information about Derricko Rogers’s homicide may call Detective Gordon at 219-755-3855.