Pair charged in death of former Griffith basketball player

A fight over a girl led to the fatal shooting of former Griffith basketball player Tyree Riley, according to a criminal affidavit. Riley’s friend was also wounded.

Tahari K. Watson, 18, and Leonard G. Young, 20, both of Michigan City were charged March 26 in Lake Superior Court with murder, attempted murder and battery by means of a deadly weapon in the March 15 incident.

Documents in the case were unsealed Monday. Defense attorney Russell W. Brown Jr. is representing Watson. Young told the court he would hire his own lawyer.

Murder defendants are held without bond, but suspects have a right to ask, particularly if they argue the case is not strong, Brown said. He filed a motion seeking bond and said Tuesday they are waiting on evidence.

“I am confident that once the ballistics tests are done, they will show there was only one shooter,” he said. “That shooter was not Mr. Watson.”

The man Riley fought is not implicated in the shooting. Watson was a former Michigan City basketball teammate, who was friends with the man. Young was a friend of Watson’s, according to the affidavit.

A witness said Riley earlier made a TikTok video with two friends and the girl, from Michigan City. The Michigan City man, who had a relationship with the girl, got angry when he saw it, exchanging words with Riley and challenging him to a fight, documents state.

They agreed to meet around midnight at the Merrillville High School parking lot, 276 E. 68th Place. Multiple vehicles showed with extra people on both sides, the affidavit states.

Riley and the man fought for three to five minutes before going back to their cars, witnesses said. Young and Watson shot into the back of the car as they drove away, police alleged in documents.

“I got hit! I got hit!” Riley said. Police arrived at the school’s parking lot around 12:15 a.m. to find an empty crashed vehicle with multiple spent bullet casings, charges state. Over police radio, patrolmen indicated a car was speeding to the hospital with a gunshot victim, the affidavit states.

Officers went to Methodist Southlake in Merrillville, where they spoke to Riley’s friend who was grazed by a bullet on the left side of his head.

Riley, 18, was pronounced dead just before 1 a.m., according to the Lake County Coroner’s office.

The man Riley fought told police they had known each other for several years as basketball competitors, charges state. Young met up with the man’s group in his own car, though at one point, Watson told him not to come, witnesses told police.

At the fight, Riley and the man grabbed each other’s clothes and “wrestled” before “boys from Merrillville” broke it up, he told police. As he walked back to his vehicle, he heard about 10 gunshots, charges stated.

The man ducked and said he didn’t see who was shooting, the affidavit states.

“The situation wasn’t supposed to happen like that,” he later told police.

Watson appeared in court Monday. Young’s next court appearance is scheduled April 13 before Judge Samuel Cappas.