Man charged in ’19 robbery avoided charges in slaying

A Merrillville man identified in court documents as an alleged accomplice in a deadly 2019 Xbox shooting recently was charged with helping to rob $40 from a pizza delivery driver days before.

Dezman Dukes, 20, was charged July 16 with robbery, a level 5 felony.

He was arrested Monday and ordered to be held without bail, according to court records. It carries a penalty from 1 to 6 years with an advisory sentence of three and up to a $10,000 fine.

Garry Higgins, now 19, of Gary, and Dukes were implicated in the high-profile June 12, 2019, murder of a Merrillville teen in an Xbox sale, according to court documents. When investigating the murder, police linked them to a string of earlier robberies near Higgins’ home via cellphones and computer internet protocol (IP) addresses, charges state.

Dukes is now charged as part of the unrelated June 9, 2019, robbery that took $40 from a Domino’s driver. It was the man’s last delivery of the night, the affidavit states.

Charges against Dukes in the Xbox murder were later dropped. Higgins recently signed a plea in the Xbox case, if accepted, that would see other charges, including the pizza robbery dropped.

On June 10, 2019, the delivery driver was taking his last pizza order to the 5000 block of Pennsylvania Street in Gary where he “noticed the house was completely dark,” records state.

As he walked back to his car, he was approached by a Black male who asked how much the order was, documents show. Another came around from the back of the house and pointed a “small chrome handgun” at his head, charges state.

The driver saw a third male “standing a few houses away watching him get robbed,” he told police.

The man holding the gun said to “leave before he killed him,” records state. The driver went back to work, where he called the police, documents show.

During their investigation, the Domino’s store manager told police he “began doing research,” suspecting a string of robberies were linked near that spot, charges said.

Higgins’ cellphone, used to call for the June 10 pizza, was listed in a police database, noting he used the street name “Glizzy,” confirmed by two of Higgins’ friends.

Police interviewed Dukes again in October 2020, where he “attempted to minimize his involvement” in the pizza robbery, where he “played a larger role ... than previously told,” charges said.

From another friend, police got access to a cellphone that showed a string of texts, one sent June 10, where Higgins claimed, “I Jus (sic) robbed a pizza man,” documents said.

Two days later, that friend got multiple texts, saying “Call Me” “Nowwww.”, referring to Merrillville teen Johnny Peluyera’s murder, with a screenshot of Facebook users talking about the case, charges state.

Court documents allege Dukes was an accomplice when Higgins lured Peluyera, 16, via the OfferUp app to the 5000 block of Maryland Street in Gary with the promise he would buy his used Xbox.

Higgins, Dukes and Peluyera tried to take it to two homes to test the power. Higgins shot the teen once, who walked over to his dad’s car, where he died in his arms, according to court records.

Dukes, like Higgins, was charged with murder, robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, level 2 felony and armed robbery, a level 3 felony. The charges against Dukes were dismissed in September 2019, according to court records.

Higgins pleaded guilty July 13 to armed robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, a level 2 felony. A judge would still have to accept the deal. In exchange, prosecutors would drop all other charges in the Peluyera case and other unrelated charges.

His sentencing hearing is set Aug. 25.