Jury convicts 50-year-old man of 2 murders in April 2017 on southeast side
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – A jury has found a 50-year-old Indianapolis man guilty of the murder of two men in April 2017 on the city’s southeast side.
Mingo Thames will be sentenced Jan. 11 in Marion Superior Court, Criminal Division 3. The jury issued its verdict Wednesday on the murders of 30-year-old Darrell Miller II and 31-year-old James Clark.
Maurice Turentine also was charged for his alleged role in the deaths of Miller and Clark. A jury trial for Turentine is set for Feb. 25 in Criminal Court 3.
On April 20, 2017, officers were called to a home in the 1600 block of Villa Avenue. Officers found Clark on the main floor of the home suffering from a gunshot wound. Miller was found at the bottom of the basement stairs suffering from gunshot wounds. Both men died at the home.
Minutes after being called to the residence on Villa Avenue, officers were called to 2400 Brookside Ave., a few miles away from the scene on Villa Avenue, where they found Turentine suffering from gunshot wounds to his abdomen. At that time, Turentine claimed to have been a victim of a drive-by shooting.
According to a witness who was present at the time of the murders, a man known as “Reece” and Thames came to the residence on Villa Avenue and were standing in the kitchen with Miller and Clark. At some point, Thames pulled out a gun and fired it at Miller. A struggle over control of the gun ensued. The witness fled the kitchen, grabbed a 4-year-old who was in the home and hid in a nearby bedroom until the shooting stopped.
The witness later identified Thames as the man she saw fire a gun at Miller from his Facebook profile.
After the murders, investigators tracked Thames to San Francisco. U.S. Marshals in El Paso, Texas, apprehended Thames, who was using a false name.
