MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie jury convicted a 17-year-old on Monday for the August 2024 murder of a 15-year-old boy who was killed behind an apartment complex office.
According to prosecutors, officers found 15-year-old LataJohne Phillips with gunshot wounds to his head and left leg behind a bush in front of the office of Creekside Apartments, in the 2500 block of North Elgin Street, around 10 p.m. on Aug. 14.
Police say the investigation began when Alayah Campbell called 911 after hearing a loud “boom” while walking her dog. She discovered Phillips lying in a bush. Emergency crews took Phillips to the hospital before transferring him to Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis, where he later died.
At the scene, investigators found several spent shell casings and one live round of ammunition. A witness told police they heard gunshots and saw several people running south toward the Elgin Manor Apartments.
Surveillance video from Elgin Manor showed a group of six people leaving the complex at 9:44 p.m., shortly before the shooting. By 9:55 p.m., five members of the group were seen running back into the complex. A sixth person, later identified as 19-year-old Ricky Nathan, returned two minutes later wearing camouflage-striped pants and tan slippers with a blanket wrapped around his head.
Police surrounded a building at Elgin Manor and used a PA system to order everyone out of an apartment. Along with Nathan, police detained three others: Robert Graham, KShaun English, and Robert Wilson.
Daisha Eckford, who lives in the apartment, told investigators the group left the building earlier that night to “make a play”—slang often used to describe a robbery or drug deal, police say.
According to Eckford, she waited near the tree line while the men went toward the Latitude apartments. She reported hearing two gunshots before the group returned with “weird looks on their face.” When shown surveillance footage, Eckford identified Wilson as the person carrying a gun.
Police searched the apartment and recovered clothing seen in the video, several firearms, and ammunition.
Wilson has been convicted of the following charges:
- Murder, a top-level felony.
- Robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, a top-level felony.
- Obstrucion of justice, a low-level felony.
Police did not say if anyone else involved had been charged with a crime relating to the murder.
