Two men will go to prison and another man was sentenced to probation after a robbery and fatal shooting in a Greenwood neighborhood last year.
The felony charges were filed last year after three men planned to rob a Greenwood home of drugs and money. The resident of the home shot and killed one of the men in what the prosecutor ruled was self-defense.
Samuel Silverman, 23, of Indianapolis, and Sean Goodman, 30, of Indianapolis, both pleaded guilty to armed robbery and were sentenced to eight years in prison.
The resident of the home, Ryan Endress, 21, of Greenwood, pleaded guilty to a felony drug possession charge and was sentenced to one year on probation.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryIn September, police were called to a home on Bridle Court, where they found 26-year-old Derrick Brown shot to death in the street.
Silverman, Goodman and Brown had planned to go to the home to rob Endress, police said. Silverman went into the home and exchanged text messages with Goodman and Brown who were outside, detailing how to enter the home and what they would find inside, including multiple types of drugs and cash, according to police reports.
When Silverman left the home, Brown rushed in and tried to rob Endress at gunpoint. Endress and Brown exchanged fire, and both were hit, police reports said.
Silverman and Goodman heard shots inside the home and saw Brown come outside and collapse in the street. They drove away, the report said.
Endress worked with investigators to identify and then help arrest Silverman and Goodman, Prosecutor Brad Cooper said.
Cooper determined that the shooting was in self-defense, and Endress was not charged in the death. Both Endress and his girlfriend were shot, but the injuries were not life-threatening, he said. Endress was charged with possession of a narcotic drug, a felony, after police found marijuana, Oxycodone, Xanax, Ecstasy, LSD and Vyanse, an ADHD medication, along with more than $5,000 in cash, multiple guns and multiple smoking devices inside the home, police reports said.
“He was justified in using deadly force, but that does not give him a pass on the drugs,” Cooper said.
Endress pleaded guilty and could ask for the charge to be lowered to a misdemeanor in the future, according to court records.
“This was a pretty traumatic event for Ryan. He had to go through a lot and he is going to have to live with that forever,” said attorney Mike Kyle, who represented Endress.
In addition to their prison sentences, Silverman also was sentenced to one year on probation and Goodman was sentenced to two years on probation, according to court records. Both men received lengthier sentences due to their past criminal histories, Cooper said.
