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player ready...A pair of Hammond men are accused of murdering two men in a Hammond alley on Oct. 3.
Tayjuan Hall, 19, and Daiyvon Upshaw-Howard, 20, are both charged with two counts of murder.
On the afternoon of Oct. 3, Hammond police responded to a report of double homicide in an alley in the 800 block of Truman Street, according to the probable cause affidavit. Two men were found — Tyrone Wade, 18, and Elijah Higgins, 18 — with gunshot wounds to their heads.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office was dispatched to the scene around 3:25 p.m., according to a news release.
A witness told police that a light-skinned black man wearing a light blue jacket was shooting from the 900 block of Michigan Street, court records state. The man proceeded to run toward a waiting vehicle and flee south on Maywood Avenue, then east on Murray Street. The witness thought the vehicle was a light brown Buick Enclave, which had an Indiana plate with the letters “AMGE” on the plate, but the witness could not make out the rest, records state.
No firearms were found on the victims. There were several spent 9mm casings at the entrance of the alley on Maywood Avenue, the affidavit states. Cellphones were discovered in both victims’ pockets.
Another witness said she saw the suspect get into a vehicle and he appeared to have a large afro stuffed under his hoodie, court records state.
Surveillance footage from a nearby business showed a tan Buick parked at the west end of the block near Calumet Avenue and a man with a white and blue hoodie exiting from the passenger side. The suspect walked east on Michigan Street toward Maywood Avenue, records state. Four men in black walked north on Calumet then turned east on Michigan. Two of the men then split off to head south in an alley off Michigan Street, the affidavit states. The suspect headed south on Maywood and the Buick made a U-turn at the Michigan and Maywood intersection. Its plate apparently read “AGAME,” records state.
A second surveillance camera saw the man in the hoodie approach the Buick to speak with the driver before turning west toward the alley. The man then pulled out a black handgun and fired several rounds before getting into the Buick and heading south, court records state.
Police checked license plate reader systems in the area and found the Buick had been at the north Hammond Walmart earlier in the day. A man matching the description of the suspect was walking through the store, according to security footage, and he had a large afro as his hood was not up, the affidavit states. A store employee recognized Hall as a Walmart co-worker.
The next day, a Hammond officer working security at the store reported that Hall arrived at work but had cut off his afro in an attempt to alter his appearance, court records state. Hall was arrested at the store and initially denied having his cellphone with him, though security footage showed that he had given it to a co-worker.
The Buick turned out to be registered to a family member of one of Hall’s Walmart co-workers — Daiyvon Upshaw-Howard, records state. Both men were observed leaving Walmart in the vehicle around 2:14 p.m. on Oct. 3.
An acquaintance said the men told them that they left Walmart to check on Upshaw-Howard’s cousin, who was recovering from a recent gunshot wound at home, the affidavit states. The cousin told the men that a group of boys was watching him and he had seen them pass the home. Hall told the acquaintance that they were being chased by the boys and go into a shootout, court records state.