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Only 65 years for (black) Gary man for 'hit' slaying of elderly White man because he fired a black woman from his towing company
  The Gary man who murdered a Portage tow truck driver in a murder-for-hire scheme received the maximum possible sentence short of the death penalty. On Friday, Porter County Superior Judge Roger Bradford sentenced Dontaye Deandre Singletary, 22, of the 500 block of Pennsylvania Street, to 65 years in prison.
Porter County Sheriff's officers then took Singletary to Lake County to face murder charges in another case. Bradford said that the impact that Singletary's absence would have on his children was the only mitigator, but aggravators included victim Carl Griffith Sr., 72, being older than 65, and Singletary having a significant juvenile criminal history. Bradford said Singletary could have faced the death penalty. Griffith's family would have preferred that. The only disappointment is that he didn't get the death penalty so we could watch his last breath," said Greg Griffith, the victim's son and spokesperson for the family. Singletary shot Griffith three times at about 8 p.m. Nov. 1, 2012, outside the victim's house in the 2700 block of Locust Street when Griffith went to get the newspaper. Antoinetta Johnson 34, was murdered in her Gary salon Dec. 13, 2012, in what the prosecution maintained was a hit Singletary ordered. In her police interview, Johnson said she set up the arrangement between Singletary and Sheaurice Major, 44, for $2,500 between Johnson and Singletary. Major wanted Griffith dead because he helped Major's ex-husband get out of prison and fire her from his Affordable Towing company. He's accused with five others of the murder of Franklin Simmons, 61, on Aug. 16. 2010, in the 1300 block of Johnson Street in Gary. - (Black-on-white) |
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- Stray Photograph Helps Crack Cold Case In Gary - May 27, 2013
That picture linked the brutal death of Franklin Simmons, 61, shot and killed in the basement of his home Aug. 15, 2010, to some of the same assailants who shot Kevin Champion, 41, as he closed the family business just blocks and minutes apart.
- Six Charged With Murder For 2010 Gary Crime Spree - May 16, 2013
Two years and 10 months after Kevin Champion, 41, was shot and killed as he left the family-owned liquor store at 17th Avenue and Grant Street in Gary, police now say he was a secondary target. Then Rashaad McNair and others took another run at the social club operated by Franklin Simmons, 61, a former Marine and retired police officer from South Carolina. Simmons was alone in the basement when McNair, Jamell Brooks, 22; his stepfather, Antoine Gates, 36; Robert E. Johnson III, 22; and Dontaye Singletary, 21, managed to force their way inside. Brooks, McNair and Singletary all fired weapons, striking Simmons at least 11 times, court records state.
- Two charged in Portage murder-for-hire plot; one suspect at large - November 13, 2012
- Duo charged in connection with Portage homicide
Sheaurice Major, 42, of Portage, charged with solicitation of murder.
- Vice Lords Gang Member Guns Down 72 Year Old With AK-47
Police say they have picked up suspects, Sheaurice Major, 42, and Dontaye D. Singletary, 20, and both face murder and solicitation of murder charges. The police have not commented on the motive, but Major and the victim were connected through a towing company.
- Black man Rashaad McNair charged in fatal shooting of Gary liquor store owner Kevin Champion - November 28, 2012
- 'Urban genocide' a way of life on streets of Gary - 1/3/2011
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