‘ME AND MY CHILDREN’S LIVES ARE NOT GOING BACK TO NORMAL’
FBI offers reward in shooting death of 2-year-old at Hammond apartment complex last month
With her two surviving children — a 4-year-old daughter and a 5-week old son — in tow, a reluctant Ronnica Taylor stood at the podium in the Hammond Police Department Thursday morning and talked about her daughter, Joette Malone, who was shot July 29 in the back seat of a car in Hammond.
Known as “JoJo,” Malone died at a Chicago hospital July 31. No arrests have been made.
Taylor described the girl as “the star of the show” who was “always talking and running around” and who loved eating and the color purple.
Her eldest, the 4-year-old, Taylor said, doesn’t understand what happened to JoJo and thinks “her sister’s coming back.”
“Me and my children’s lives are not going back to normal,” she said quietly. “It’s really hard every day knowing she’s gone.”
Taylor came to the police department to hear a representative from the Federal
Bureau of Investigation’s Indianapolis office announce up to $10,000 in reward money for legitimate information that leads to the person or people involved in shooting that killed the 2-year-old.
Taylor, of Gary, was leaving the Kennedy Crossings Apartment complex in the city’s Hessville section with her three children around 9:30 p.m. July 29 when shots were fired, Hammond Police Detective Capt. Ezequiel Hinojosa said. The shots came from the 3300 block of Craig Drive, and JoJo was in a car seat behind Taylor when she was hit, Hinojosa said.
JoJo was “barely old enough to enjoy life when it was taken,” Hinojosa said, fighting back tears.
“We reached out to the FBI, and we’re reaching out to the public because we know someone has information,” he said. “JoJo was innocent, and we know there’s someone out there (who can help).”
Initially, police said the investigation indicated the family might’ve been caught in crossfire. Now, they’ve added the possibility that the shooting could’ve been “an accident,” Hinojosa said.
“If it was somebody just shooting a gun and it was an accident, we need them to come forward,” he said. “We hope (the shooter or shooters) realize it was a 2 1/2-year-old.”
Detectives have also been reviewing the city’s license plate readers in the area, he said, but declined to detail any other information they’ve gathered so as not to jeopardize the investigation. Residents in the normally quiet complex, however, have been receptive and helpful to the investigation, he said.
Danny Youmara, assistant special agent in-charge of the FBI’s Indianapolis office, urged anyone with information to come forward.
“We’ve enlisted the help of our Gang Response Investigative Team, or GRIT, and they’re working shoulder-to-shoulder with Hammond,” Youmara said.
Lake County Prosecutor Bernie Carter also put out an appeal, recalling a case early in his career where a suspect told his girlfriend he’d shot someone and the girlfriend didn’t come forward until six months later, when she told her mother what happened. The mother ensured her daughter testified, and the two split $20,000 in reward money.
“Even if you think it’s insignificant, provide the information,” Carter said.
Joette Malone’s funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Aug. 14 at Divinity Funeral Home, 3831 Main St., East Chicago, Hammond Police spokesman Lt. Steve Kellogg said.
Joette’s death is the city’s fourth homicide for 2020, Kellogg said.
Anyone with information related to Joette “JoJo”Malone’s death is asked to contact the FBI’s Indianapolis office at 317-595-4000; the Hammond Police’s investigations division at 219852-2906; your local FBI office or nearest American Embassy or Consulate; or submit tips online at tips.fbi.gov.