By Leeann Doerflein | Daily Journal
The survivor of a Christmas Eve shooting that left two people dead at a Bargersville-area gas station was arrested Friday on a conspiracy to commit robbery charge.
No suspects have been arrested in the actual shooting, but new information released by the Bargersville Police Department and Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office suggests the shooting was connected to a drug deal and planned robbery.
Prosecutors charged Devon McHugh, 18, for conspiracy to commit robbery, a Level 5 felony. He was arrested on a warrant Friday. If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
The investigation revealed McHugh and the two individuals who were killed in the shooting planned to rob individuals they arranged to buy marijuana from at the gas station.
Ethan Bell, 18, and an unidentified 17-year-old were shot to death at the Circle K, 9400 W SR 144. McHugh was shot in the leg and flank and survived.
McHugh, of Martinsville, told police the three of them organized a drug deal to buy $400 worth of marijuana, but only brought $200, with plans to rob the individuals, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Friday in Johnson County Circuit Court.
Inside a red Chevy Cruze, Bell and the juvenile male, wearing a Halloween mask, attempted to commit the robbery, but one or more of the three people who were there to sell drugs opened fire on the three unarmed teens, according to court documents.
McHugh was not in the car and did not participate in the robbery, but is being charged because he cooperated with the plot to commit the robbery, said Joe Villanueva, Johnson County prosecutor.
“While McHugh didn’t personally perform the attempted robbery itself, he chose to be part of that plan and acted in concert with his friends. We will seek to now hold him accountable for that choice,” Villanueva said in a joint statement with Bargersville police.
McHugh told the police Bell and the juvenile were unarmed. The plan was to pretend the juvenile’s cell phone was a gun. They didn’t think a real gun was needed because Bargersville and rural Morgan Country are safe areas. McHugh and the juvenile had participated in several other drug deal robbery plots without incident, according to court documents.
After the shooting, the suspects pushed Bell and the juvenile’s bodies out of the car and drove off. Police found the car in a farm field at Henderson Ford Road and Watson Road in Morgan County, a few miles away from where the shooting occurred, court documents say.
Sixteen shell casings were found inside the car where the teens were gunned down, along with several bullet holes. Additional casings, bullet impact marks and some broken glass were found at the scene, according to court documents.
Bargersville police collaborated with sheriff’s deputies in Johnson and Morgan counties for the past seven months to reach this point in the investigation.
They have worked to gather evidence, running down leads and speaking with multiple people who might have information in connection with the case, Bargersville Police Chief Todd Bertram said in the joint statement.
“We don’t see this kind of violence in Bargersville, and want to make sure the incident is investigated to the fullest. We currently have some of the questions about what happened answered and can now start bringing charges against certain individuals. Should additional information related to the shooting become known, we can evaluate forwarding any additional charges to the prosecutor’s office then,” Bertram said.
The investigation is ongoing. Though Bargersville police have a person of interest, there is not enough evidence to charge him with murder and secure a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt, Villanueva said.
“Future charges against anyone else involved in the incident will be reviewed as the evidence warrants and that portion of the investigation remains open,” he said.
Levi Bradley Camplin, 18, of Morgan County, was named a person of interest and interviewed by police earlier this year.
It is still unclear how many of the three people who participated in the drug deal participated in the shooting and which were just bystanders, Villanueva said.
Bell’s family is not optimistic anyone will be arrested or charged in the murder, said Roger Bell, the victim’s grandfather.
The family knows the person of interest and others who might have been involved, and it is hard to see them free while their grandson is dead, Roger Bell said.
“I’ve not been the same human being since it happened. My wife and family are taking it very hard, too,” Roger Bell said.
Ethan Bell is remembered by his family as a compassionate person who cared deeply about his brothers and always sought to step up for them and be the man of the house. Before he dropped out of school, he was a promising football player at Martinsville High School, Roger Bell said.
It was his love for his brothers and desire to make a better life for them that led him down this path, he said.
Until Thursday, the family had never spoken with the prosecutor’s office about the case, though Roger Bell had twice-weekly conversations with a detective on the case, he said.
It was common knowledge among the family that Bell was dealing drugs. The family knew he was dealing to make quick cash to save up for an apartment to move into with his younger brothers to give them a more stable home than their parents could provide, he said.
They didn’t know about the robbery. For months, they were left guessing how Bell ended up dead, Roger Bell said.
No matter the circumstances of the shooting, it should be investigated to the fullest extent. Both families deserve justice, he said.
“It does not matter what those people were doing in that parking lot. That does not devalue their lives. It doesn’t matter if they were there selling drugs or making church appointments,” Roger Bell said.
