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Rayterrion Wheeler (left) and Herbert Brown III // Photos provided (November 10, 2012) |
SOUTH BEND — Prosecutors have filed charges against two teenagers in connecting with the slaying of a Mishawaka man last week in what charging documents say was a drug deal turned shooting.
Rayterrion Wheeler, 16, is charged with murder in the death of Mack Caldwell, 51. An alleged accomplice, Herbert Brown III, 18, is charged with assisting a criminal.
Caldwell was visiting a friend on the 1000 block of Bowman Street on Friday when court documents say Wheeler and Brown entered the residence to buy marijuana from a man in the home.
A woman in the residence at the time told police the teenagers came to the home to set up the drug deal with a man called “Vato” but left and then returned, according to the probable cause affidavit.
At one point, she said she saw Brown holding a bag of marijuana he obtained from Vato.
She told investigators that upon the teenagers’ return, Wheeler shot Caldwell, who was sitting at a dining room table at the home.
It was unclear to the witness why the teenager allegedly shot Caldwell. The teenagers were possibly trying to rob the man, or argued with him, the affidavit said.
A neighborhood resident told police he heard a gunshot Friday night and saw men matching the description of Brown and Wheeler fleeing the home, according to the affidavit.
Using a hooded sweatshirt discarded nearby, police dogs tracked the teenagers to a home nearby on East Calvert Street.
According to court documents, Brown denied his involvement and Wheeler said the two were in the residence when four unknown men came in and shot Caldwell.
The affidavit notes gunpowder residue was found on Wheeler’s hands.
Wheeler and Brown are scheduled for initial hearings on Nov. 27.
Wheeler is held without bond. A judge set bond for Brown at $10,000.
Staff writer Madeline Buckley:
mbuckley@sbtinfo.com
574-235-6337
