Two victims, one dead, and someone 'begging for his life' in parking lot

FORT WAYNE, Ind. --Three serious crimes in less than 24 hours.

Shontrel Bright, 33, is charged with murder in the shooting death of Keitron Demos Adams, 21, and the attempted murder of his Adams’ brother who is intubated, sedated and in critical condition from several gunshot wounds, according to a probable cause affidavit written by Fort Wayne homicide detective Geraud Bartels.

And, he’s charged with sexual battery using deadly force from an encounter just a few short hours before the homicide.

Prior to the shooting just after midnight on April 13, (Sunday), Bright got overly persuasive at his apartment with a 16-year-old girl with all the usual suggestions of “she wasn’t a little girl anymore,” inquiring if she was a virgin and didn’t she want to do “something fun.”

She and her brother both reported to police they saw a gun at Bright's hip. It was tucked into the front right side waistband of his gray, blue and white Nike Tech sweatsuit the teen said he was wearing along with white Nike Air VaporMax shoes, the same outfit he was seen wearing a few hours later at the homicide scene, court documents said.

Police arrived in a parking lot at Baldwin Creek Apartments on Hobson Road after callers reported gunshots, someone “laying on the horn and screaming” and a male “begging for his life,” court documents said.

They found Adams lying next to a silver Ford Mustang on the back east side of the parking lot. He was already dead.

Callers told police a white Dodge Charger left the complex and was on State Street, heading east to Parkview Randallia. Officers rushed to the scene and intercepted the Charger.

Reading the probable cause closely, it appears the homicide victim’s brother drove himself to the hospital. He’d been shot several times and was so injured, he had to be transferred to a trauma center, court documents said.

The car had two bullet holes in the windshield, blood streaks on the passenger side and a single, fired bullet underneath the driver’s side rear passenger door.

Even more witnesses reported there was a fight just prior to the shooting and they saw a 6-foot tall guy run off. He was wearing a gray and blue sweatsuit.

Security video from Senior Town Apartments to the east of the parking lot showed Bright walking from the south end of the parking lot and smoking a cigarette as the white Dodge Charger slowly passed by Bright, court documents said.

Then the cameras show him walking past right after the shooting.

After Bright was detained and interviewed by detectives at police headquarters, he denied ever owning a gun or bullets. He claimed he didn’t have any white Nike Air VaporMax shoes and that he got home around 11 p.m., a good hour before the homicide.

Bright couldn’t remember anything untoward happening at the apartment complex and said he personally stayed home “and drank, smoked and went to bed.”

But something did happen because his knuckles were red and there was a red cut or abrasion on the left knuckle of his index finger. As he talked with Bartels, he picked off a scab on his right thumb, court documents said.

But no, he didn’t have a fight with anyone, he said. Did he actually have a fight with a 21-year-old?

Bright will need to have answers to crime scene findings including live .45 rounds found in his bedroom after a search warrant was granted. Crime scene techs also found a Nike sweatshirt that was royal blue, black and white and an orange Nike shoebox for Air VaporMax shoes, court documents said.

During the police interview, crime scene techs sent photos of the jacket and shoes to the detectives.

The FWPD Gang Unit came to the conclusion that the bullets found at the crime scene were the same kind found at the apartment.That was also the conclusion of the ATF (the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms), court docs said.

The detective work rivaled that of an hour-long television show it was done so quickly.

With all the evidence thrown at him, Bright ended his police interview claiming he was drunk and he wanted an attorney, court documents said.

Bright had his initial hearing Friday in front of Allen County temporary judge Anthony Churchward, according to court documents and he has a followup hearing on June 16.

When you’re charged with murder, there’s no bail.