2nd man charged in 2019 deaths of Lake teens
Court document alleges John Silva II, 19, was in basement of Porter County home during killings
Texts about a drug deal and discussion in the car on the way there about robbing and killing two Lake County teens preceded their murders last year, according to charging documents for a second suspect arrested in the case.
John Silva II, 19, of Hamlet, was charged Friday with two counts of murder in the perpetration of a robbery in the Feb. 25, 2019, deaths of Thomas Grill, 18, of Cedar Lake, and Molley Lanham, 19, of St. John.
Connor Kerner, 19, of the 100 block of Kinsale, Valparaiso, remains at the Porter County Jail without bond. He has been charged with two counts of murder and additional felony counts of intimidation and arson in the case. Kerner, arrested in the days after the alleged crimes, has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for a change of venue hearing at 10 a.m. June 3 before Porter Superior Court Judge Roger Bradford.
Detectives with the Porter County Sheriff’s Department arrested Silva and took him into custody Friday, according to a release from the sheriff ’s department. No initial hearing has been set.
“I want to commend the work of our Criminal Investigations Division and the Prosecutor’s Office for working tirelessly since we learned of this tragedy,” Sheriff David Reynolds said in the release. “I also again want to send my sincere condolences to the families of Thomas Grill and Molley
Lanham. Please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers.”
According to court documents, video surveillance at Valparaiso High School captured Silva and Kerner leaving the building at 10:16 a.m. on Feb. 25, 2019, after exchanging texts on an encrypted message app about what appears to be a drug deal.
“He wants to trade me a lot of wax and pens for the packs so whatever cash he doesn’t have on him we’re gonna have to move some product today,” Kerner reportedly texted to Silva, using the name “bodabodadro.”
After Kerner goes on to say that he’ll give Silva “all the prepacks and slabs,” Silva, using the name “jsilva2626,” responds, “that’s perfect. i have sooo much sales already, as long as we get at least 10k.”
Silva, according to the documents, initially denied being present during the murders but later agreed to speak with investigators. He told police he and Kerner left the high school in Kerner’s Jeep Grand Cherokee and traveled to Kerner’s grandparents’ house in Hebron to meet with Grill and Lanham.
Kerner and his mother were staying at his grandparents’ home to care for their dog while they were out of town, documents said. Two informants told police that Silva told them that in the car ride to Hebron, “Kerner was fixated on robbing ‘them’ and wanted Silva to kill ‘them,’ ” documents said. Kerner played the song “Last Memory” and told Silva, “this is going to be that kid’s last memory,” according to the charges.
Silva told police he turned off his location services on his cellphone settings when he and Kerner got in the Jeep to go to Hebron, documents said.
“Silva stated he observed Kerner retrieve a black handgun from the Jeep’s glove compartment before they entered the house,” documents state.
Silva took a seat in the basement and a short time later, he heard Kerner meeting with two people upstairs, documents said.
“Silva then stated that he heard six shots and Connor Kerner called for him, saying, ‘John, John,’ ” documents state.
Silva ran upstairs and entered the garage, where he saw Lanham lying motionless face down. He saw Grill near the man door to the garage, lying face down but still alive and making noises.
“Silva stated that Kerner gave
him microfiber towels to start wiping up blood, which he did. He advised that he observed Kerner grab a wrench and his back swing prior to striking Thomas (Grill),” documents state.
Kerner loaded the bodies into a Honda Civic that belonged to Lanham’s stepfather, Silva told police, while he placed the bloody towels in a white trash bag. Kerner handed him the gun, and Silva wrapped it in the towel and placed it in the trash bag with the bloody towels, documents state.
Silva took the trash bag to the Jeep and noticed blood on his sleeve cuffs and his shoe and waited in the Jeep until Kerner joined him and the left, documents state.
Before Kerner dropped him off, Silva saw him with another gun, initially described as a “CZ9” handgun, which he told investigators he hadn’t seen before.
Kerner’s grandfather told police that when he returned from out of town, he noticed that his CZ9 9 mm handgun was missing and that Kerner said he had it and planned to do some target shooting, documents state. The grandfather drove to Kerner’s house and retrieved the gun.
Charging documents state that the Indiana State Police lab determined Silva’s DNA profile is present on that gun.
Kerner burned the Honda Civic in a wooded area not far from his grandparents’ home, court documents have said, and later told an i n f o r ma n t a b o u t the crime, as well as showing her the wooded area where the car was. She later reported the murders to police.