Lawyers had different explanations Tuesday for why Jomo Bennett hit his 88-year-old Gary landlord over the head with a gun.
Bennett, 31, of Gary, is charged with three counts of felony battery, one count of pointing a firearm and two misdemeanors. He has pleaded not guilty.
Landlord Cornelius Nnadi, then 88, told police he and his son asked to come inside Bennett’s apartment around 12 p.m. Feb. 16, 2023 on the 3500 block of Jackson Street to fix a water leak in the bathroom that was dripping into the downstairs unit.
In opening arguments, Deputy Prosecutor Jacob Brandewie told jurors Bennett was the aggressor over fixing the leak. It was an attack that never should have happened, he said.
“We’re not here to settle who was a good tenant or who was a good landlord,” he told jurors.
Bennett let them in, then asked if they could come back another day. The landlord and his son responded they couldn’t, because the leak would cause more damage.
Bennett allegedly got angry, telling him he would move out soon, according to court documents. He allegedly started pushing the landlord into his son, as the son tried to separate them.
“Where’s my gun,” Bennett said before hitting Cornelius Nnadi.
The elder man had a 1.5-inch cut on his scalp, records show. The men quickly left, Brandewie said.
Defense lawyer John Cantrell said his client acted in self-defense. Bennett had lived there for 5-6 years and was getting ready to move in a few weeks.
Benedict Nnadi, the landlord’s son, showed up uninvited without tools to fix a leak he said was seeping into the downstairs unit, the lawyer said. Bennett had a four-month-old baby sleeping in another room.
Bennett told him he couldn’t fix it in 10 minutes before he left for work. The landlord walked in and the men started to argue. Bennett had spoken with his downstairs neighbor, who she said didn’t have a leak.
The son grabbed his client and the landlord pulled his hair, Cantrell argued. Bennett said he had a gun, pulled it and hit the elder man. He followed them outside briefly to make sure they weren’t getting guns, then called 911.
Originally, the Nnadi’s told police it happened outside the apartment, according to the probable cause affidavit. A Gary Police detective interviewed the Nnadis on Feb. 24. That gave them time to “get their story straight,” Cantrell argued.
