A drug deal and a pink lemonade: The case against a man accused in gas station shooting
INDIANAPOLIS — A drug deal went awry after a man trying to purchase $70 worth of marijuana came up short, leading to gunfire.
The shooting unfolded at a gas station on the city's northwest side and a bottle of pink lemonade helped police track down the man they say fired the shots that killed Kevin Maurice Jackson, 50, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Daryion Caldwell, 19, is accused of shooting Jackson with a Glock 27 affixed with a 30-round extended magazine and is facing preliminary charges of murder and robbery resulting in serious bodily injury.
Caldwell, who was taken into custody Thursday, told investigators the shooting was self-defense.
About 9 p.m. Saturday, April 27, 2024 Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were dispatched to a Marathon gas station at 3801 N. High School Road about a person shot.
Minutes later Jackson would be pronounced deceased, his body lying near the driver's side door of his silver Toyota Camry with the engine still running and front passenger and driver doors open.
Investigators pulled surveillance video from inside the store, which showed the man they think is Caldwell standing in front of an ATM, which he never uses.
"I got no money," the man is heard saying in the video during a phone conversation. "I only got $20 on Cash App. He don't take Cash App. He only takes cash."
Jackson arrives at the store, parks at the gas pumps and walks inside where he briefly chats with the man at the ATM.
The man is then seen on video purchasing a pink lemonade for $1.92 using a debit card police say in the affidavit they later traced to Caldwell.
The two then walked to the Camry parked at gas pumps and got inside. The men are in the vehicle for just over two minutes before seven gunshots can be heard in the video, the affidavit states.
Jackson, Caldwell said, reached for the gun tucked in Caldwell's waistband and the two wrestled over the weapon, a fight he reenacted with a detective using a fake firearm, the affidavit indicates.
"Caldwell said he fired shots in self-defense at Mr. Jackson because (Jackson was trying to strike him and grab his gun," police wrote in their affidavit.
The men exited the vehicle on the passenger side before Caldwell ran to the driver's side and took something from the Camry before fleeing in a waiting SUV. Jackson walked around his car and collapsed.
Inside the car police found seven cartridge casings, bullets, glasses, a cellphone, marijuana, a digital scale, a hat and shoes.
They also found a pink lemonade.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis crime: Drug deal ends with deadly shooting, police say
