A Gary man is facing murder charges after he fatally shot a 59-year-old man who was trying to prevent a robbery.
Keiont Larmar Martin, 20, also known as Keionta Lamar Martin, is charged with two counts of murder, two felony counts of attempted robbery, and misdemeanor possession of marijuana. Lake County prosecutors also filed a pair of firearms enhancements, court records state.
According to the probable cause affidavit, police were dispatched on the afternoon of Oct. 19 to the 400 block of Richard Gordon Hatcher Boulevard in Gary, where a man had been shot in the torso. Hendric Robinson, 59, was later pronounced dead at 4:25 p.m. in the Methodist Hospitals Northlake emergency room, according to a news release from the Lake County Coroner’s Office.
The shooting occurred on the front lawn of a residence, where police found a black handgun in a holster. A second gun, a .45mm handgun, was found next to Robinson, records state.
Police obtained security footage from a nearby residence, which showed audio and video from the apparent shooting. The video showed Robinson walking slowly with a cane past a house in the alley when he’s approached by a man in a black hooded sweater trying to talk to him, court records state. The pair walk further down the alley, and eventually out of view of the camera. But the audio track continues and an exchange of gunfire is heard, the affidavit states.
The person who interacted with Robinson is heard saying “I’m empty,” then a voice talks about a switch not working. Police said the “switch” refers to a device that can make a handgun fully automatic, records state.
Police found numerous spent shell casings from three different guns, including a .762-caliber rifle and a .40-caliber handgun in the backyard and alley of a nearby house. Police suspect there were at least two people who shot at Robinson, court records state.
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Police reviewed security footage from an apartment building at 5th Avenue and Hatcher Boulevard. A white Nissan Sentra with front-end damage is seen passing Robinson in the alley before making a U-turn and driving back toward him, the affidavit states.
A witness told police that he had seen the Nissan near where Robinson was shot and then saw two or three people running away from where he was shot before fleeing the scene in the Nissan. Police can see the suspects running through surveillance footage caught in the 400 block of Hayes Street, records state.
A second witness said he saw three individuals get into the Nissan.
Three days later, police stopped the Nissan, the affidavit states, and Martin was sitting in the passenger seat with a rifle/AR-pistol on the floorboard. The car was registered to Martin. Police found a baggie containing 9.8 grams of marijuana during a pat-down search.
In an Oct. 22 police interview, Martin denied being involved in Robinson’s shooting, but said he was at his girlfriend’s or mom’s near 5th and Hayes, records state. Police asked him if the weapon found in the car would be connected to a murder through ballistics testing and he responded, “I guess I’ll have to do the time.”
He didn’t answer who had his car at the time of the homicide and said he broke his cell phone 2-3 days prior, court records state.
Martin said he stays in Merrillville and also at his relative’s in the 4000 block of Ryan Court. The car was seen on license plate reader cameras near the Ryan Court address in the days following the shooting, but he denied parking nearby, the affidavit states.
Police executed a search warrant at the residence on Ryan Court. The man told police that he was aware that police were seeking information about Martin and his vehicle, and that Martin was “stupid enough to do it and should suffer the consequences,” records state. He had believed something was wrong as Martin was hiding his car and parking it behind the house to make the plates not visible. Another relative said Martin was acting nervous and walking around with his gun when in the house, court records state.
A neighbor shared footage from around the time frame of the shooting. Martin had arrived at the Ryan Court residence around 4:30 p.m. — after the homicide occurred — and he’s seen interacting with someone, saying “he probably dead too” and “I (messed) up,” the affidavit states.
Another relative initially told police he wasn’t in Indiana on Oct. 19, but police told him they knew he was. Martin had told the relative that he and a friend had tried to rob someone in the alley, but Robinson shot at them so the friend shot the older man, hitting him, records state. Martin said his friend shot at the man using the switch.