No prison for driver in deadly Halloween shooting

A Hammond man implicated as the driver in a deadly Halloween shooting will avoid prison time.

Tariq Silas, 21, signed a plea agreement last year admitting to aggravated battery. He faced up to 10 years in prison.

Lake Superior Judge Salvador Vasquez sentenced him Friday to five years in Lake County’s Community Transition Court, a court monitoring program with wrap-around services. After 18 months, he could petition to get the rest of his sentence thrown out. If he fails the program, he would go to prison.

Silas has no prior criminal record. In exchange for his plea deal, Silas flipped and testified against codefendants Sheldon Stokes and Richard Walker, who were acquitted last week after a joint murder trial.

Five men were implicated in the Oct. 31, 2021 shooting in Hammond’s Hessville section that killed Thomas Delacruz, 13, of East Chicago, and wounded another 13-year-old boy in the leg.

Prosecutors said the group of teenagers were targeted after one, wearing a clown mask “exchanged” words with Stokes, who threatened to come back with a “.38,” according to court records. He returned in a car with four others. The group opened fire while the kids were trick-ortreating, an affidavit alleged.

Silas’ lawyer Robert Varga argued Friday he went to give people a ride and had no idea the group would open fire on truck-or-treaters. Silas’ mother Charlotte Jones testified he never got in trouble in school, but was known for giving people rides. Her son knew Stokes and Walker for years, but hung out less since graduation.

Varga admitted Silas lied to the police in his first interview to protect himself and buddies Stokes and Walker, whom he knew since grade and middle school. He asked for four years, with 18 months served behind bars and 2 years on probation.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michelle Jatkiewicz said Silas’s testimony was helpful and he was remorseful. At the bail hearing, he was the only co-defendant to look away from crime scene videos, she said. She told Vasquez to sentence him at his discretion.

Silas said he wanted to apologize to the families of Delacruz and the wounded boy. He asked for their forgiveness. Neither was in court.

Silas said he was “proud” that he decided to “do the right thing” to tell what he knew.

“I accept the consequences,” he said, of his role.

His statement was “well said, to be clear,” Vasquez said.

But, had he not faced charges himself, would he have cooperated, the judge asked. Maybe Silas didn’t know what would happen, but he certainly should have known they had guns, Vasquez said. Silas was not a budding career criminal. It was not a case where he “ought to go to prison,” the judge said.

Police rushed to the 3600 block of 167th Street in the city’s Hessville section after getting “multiple” shots fired calls around 7:22 p.m. Trick-ortreating hours were from 5-7 p.m.

Ballistics evidence showed two people fired guns — co-defendant Desmond Crews and another man, Shevell Ash, then 18 — according to

lawyers. Fourteen 10-mm bullet casings and five 9-mm shells were recovered. Indiana State Police Forensic Specialist Erica Gilbert testified last week a 9-mm bullet struck Delacruz. That type was traced to Crews’ gun, according to lawyers.

Crews told police that Stokes told a group in their car that “someone was going to die tonight” and he would find the “guy” who mocked him in a “clown mask.” When the men located the group, Crews realized it was “just little kids,” but opened fire anyway, because “he felt he had to shoot,” the affidavit said.

The father of another teen in the group was at a nearby restaurant when his wife called, saying there was a shooting where their child was trick-or-treating. He chased Crews down, who wore a yellow hoodie and black ski mask, documents said. A Hammond police officer arrested Crews there.

Police later recovered Crews’ yellow sweatshirt he discarded, a 9-mm gun, and two magazines. When he heard others in the car shoot, he felt he “had to” as well, Crews said. Crews told police he tried to shoot “above their heads,” he “wasn’t confident” he didn’t hit anyone, since a child with a blue hooded sweatshirt fell to the ground and stopped moving, charges allege.

Crews was sentenced to 55 years in November. Ash is implicated in court documents. He was initially arrested by the U.S. Marshals last year. If criminal charges have been filed, it remains under seal. Jatkiewicz declined to comment Friday on where Ash was.

Delacruz’s mother Jasmine Anderson attended nearly every day of the trial last week. Family friends said they just wanted justice for the boy.

Her son was a gentle spirit who had just celebrated his 13th birthday on Oct. 1, 2021, she said then. Her son loved playing football, basketball and hanging out with his two best friends from elementary school. He loved playing video games, especially “Fortnite,” and was helpful to anyone that needed him.