Mother's Day shooting from 2022 ends with plea deal – The Daily Reporter

HANCOCK COUNTY — A plea deal was accepted by a county judge earlier this week, preventing an attempted murder case from going to trial in Hancock County Superior Court 1.

Tiquest Jaquan Meyers, 26, 5100 block of E. 42nd Street, was charged with one Level 1 felony count of attempted murder and one Level 5 felony count of attempted murder criminal recklessness where a defendant fires a firearm into a building following an incident on May 8. , 2022.

Although the case ended in a different criminal charge and a plea deal, Meyers still has a long stay to serve before his legal troubles are behind him after Judge DJ Davis handed down a 10-year sentence, the maximum sentence available under the plea agreement. .

The 2022 Mother's Day Sunday shooting, in which multiple shots were fired at a McCordsville home, left a man seriously injured after being shot in the face. The victim has since recovered while the shooter, Meyers, received a lesser charge Wednesday when Davis accepted the plea deal.

According to officials with the Hancock County Prosecutor's Office, the victim who was shot in the face is a childhood friend of Meyers and was also being held at the Marion County Jail. Additionally, the shooting victim was not a consenting witness for the prosecution. Officials in the DA's office felt it was better to reach a plea deal than go to trial with a victim refusing to testify.

“The detective who investigated the case testified that she knew about the plea before it was offered and, knowing everything she knew, she agreed on the appropriate way to resolve it- here,” said prosecutor Brent Eaton.

According to the plea agreement, which was signed by both parties in April, Meyers withdrew his previous plea of ​​”not guilty” to the above charges and pleaded “guilty” to a lesser crime – one count of level 3 felony charge of aggravated battery. .

The plea agreement stipulated that the sentence should not exceed 10 years and that the length of the sentence served would be not less than five years, but not more than seven years. How the remainder of the 10-year term was to be served was determined by Judge Davis.

After hearing both sides, Judge Davis sentenced Meyers to a maximum term of 10 years in prison in the Indiana Department of Corrections (IDOC), including seven years to serve, with six years to be served in IDOC and one year to serve as a prisoner. direct commitment to home detention in Hancock County Community Corrections.

The remaining three years of the sentence were suspended on Hancock County Probation, with special conditions being that Meyers receive mental health treatment at the IDOC. Judge Davis also recommended that Meyers complete vocational training during his time at IDOC and noted that Meyers must receive mental health treatment as a condition of probation once he completes his time at IDOC.

Judge Davis also reminded Meyers of the seriousness of his actions in that Meyers was in a neighborhood with children when the shooting occurred and a 12-year-old child was present when the events unfolded. In addition to the harm, injury, loss and damage suffered by the victim, the judge noted that he took all of these into account in making the decision.

According to police reports, officers were called to the 400 block of Thomas Point Drive in Fortville on May 8, 2022, after receiving reports of shots fired. Investigators took reports from witnesses that a car pulled up to a home in the 300 block of Park Creek Lane and opened fire on an individual in the subdivision.

A witness told authorities he observed a man (later identified as Meyers) park his vehicle outside the residence on the 300 block of Park Creek, according to the affidavit. The witness then told authorities, according to the report, that Myers got out of his vehicle through the driver's side door and began firing seven to 10 shots toward the victim's residence on the 2000 block 300 from Park Creek. The witness said three to four more shots were fired by the victim toward Meyers, followed by two to three more shots fired by Meyers standing outside of his vehicle.

Attorney Steven Gray represented Meyers and asked Judge Davis to read Meyers his rights regarding an appeal, which Davis did. However, Gray noted that the sentence was within the parameters of the plea agreement, meaning there is no basis for an appeal.

Meyers has been incarcerated in the Hancock County Jail since June 2022 and will therefore receive credit for 944 days served.