Charges were unsealed recently against a third man charged in connection with a deadly 2021 gang-linked road shooting in Hammond.
Darrion Johnson, Jr., 33, of Chicago, is charged with murder and attempted murder. He is in custody. He has a formal appearance in court Thursday.
Thomas Hill, 33, of Chicago, who was shot five times, died in a July 17, 2021 road shooting on Indianapolis Boulevard near the I-80/94 interchange. A woman who was with him was wounded.
Investigators said Johnson was an alleged Gangsters Disciples member who was part of the group that targeted Hill.
Police arrived at 12:15 a.m. at the GoLo gas station, 7306 Indianapolis Blvd. in Hammond. Hill was found “unresponsive,” shot in the head in the driver’s seat of a 2004 GMC van. The vehicle had crashed and was in the lot. Investigators estimated at least 30 shots were fired.
Authorities said the slaying grew out of a deadly rivalry between the Gangster Disciples and Black Disciples, documents show. Police later learned the bowling alley birthday party Hill attended was for a known Black Disciples member.
Investigators got a break in the case more than a year later in while examining another shooting.
After a Sept. 25, 2022, shooting at Serenity Lounge, 6217 Kennedy Ave., in Hammond killed one man and wounded three others at a birthday party, investigators linked some involved to Hill’s slaying, records show.
Officers found Brian Leonard, 29, of Chicago, and three others nearby who were shot “multiple” times, charges state. Leonard was pronounced dead at 2:45 a.m. at the hospital, according to the Lake County Coroner’s Office. His death was ruled a homicide.
Leonard was a rival gang member to the Gangster Disciples, records allege.
Daquan Pierce, Marcus Mathis, Cordero Miller, Joseph O. Smith and Brian Emory are charged in connection with that slaying, court records show.
One of Smith’s cell phones was recovered after the Serenity Lounge shooting. When it was extracted, it had a group chat that appeared to show plotting on the night of Hill’s death. Smith sent a screenshot of the flyer for the Up Your Alley birthday party to the group chat.
Co-defendant Damonte Jones was believed to be in the Jeep, closest to Hill’s van. Smith is also charged in Hill’s death.
Johnson was in the Chrysler minivan, one of a couple of vehicles that followed Hill to the interstate from the bowling alley, records show.
North Chicago Police recovered an AK-47 in November 2021 linked to Hill’s killing.
