Records: Case dismissed in homeless man’s death
A judge granted a request Wednesday to drop the case against two men charged in connection with a homeless Gary man’s murder, court records show.
Deputy Prosecutor Bradley Carter wrote in court filings he couldn’t prove the case. Both men could have their charges refiled later.
Jarvis Sanders, now 22, was charged with murder on September 30, 2022, records show. He was accused of fatally shooting Terry Davis, 25, on September 22, 2022 behind an abandoned Gary Midtown liquor store, according to a probable cause affidavit.
His death was ruled a homicide.
Ex-Gary cop David Finley, now 43, was charged Oct. 24, 2022 with murder, Level 5 felony assisting a criminal and misdemeanor assisting a criminal. He was accused of driving Sanders to the alley in the vicinity of 2200 Broadway and then picking him up after Sanders shot Davis.
A day after the shooting death, Gary police had identified Sanders as a suspect through surveillance footage from a gas station Sanders and Davis frequented, according to court records. A witness to the shooting confirmed it was Sanders to police four days afterward, telling police that Sanders and Davis, who were both homeless, had been at odds with each other for some time, records indicate.
As police continued to secure and view security and license-plate reader footage, Gary police were able to determine the vehicle used in the shooting, records said. In that footage, they identified Finley as being with Sanders before the shooting; as well, police traced the vehicle back to someone associated with Finley, records said.
Later on Sept. 30, an anonymous caller to the Metro Homicide Unit told a detective that he gave “him” a ride in the vehicle the day of the shooting but declined to give more information nor identify himself, according to the affidavit. The detective, however, recognized Finley’s voice from previous interactions, records said.
In 2012, police began investigating Finley, who had worked for the Gary Police Department since 2009, when an informant told them Finley had sold cocaine, the Post-Tribune previously reported. He was later arrested and charged with buying a gun for a felon and selling marijuana and cocaine.
He resigned from the department soon after that.
The cocaine charges were dropped after law enforcement discovered it was fake cocaine, and Finley later pleaded guilty to lying when buying a gun and selling marijuana.
Finley received a longer sentence than he could have for pleading guilty after federal attorneys discovered that he had faked at least two letters of support sent to U.S. District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen.
The judge took away Finley’s credit for cooperating and increased his sentence for obstructing justice, leading to the 30-month sentence.
Finley later filed a motion in 2014 saying that, “He has been entrapped by men, who like him, are sworn officers of the law.” The motion didn’t provide details of how he was entrapped but said he no longer thought he committed a crime.