What we know about 10-year-old Deshaun Swanson's killing
Police officials Wednesday hit the neighborhood where the 10-year-old boy was killed. Here's a look at where the case stands.
The killing is one officials say is among the most troubling of the more than 60 unsolved cases in Indianapolis this year.
Who gunned down that 10-year-old boy?
Two months after Deshaun Swanson's death, police have yet to arrest anyone in connection with the crime. The boy was killed while attending a memorial service Sept. 19 with his mother and older brother.
Patrol officers from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department met for roll call Wednesday outside the house in the 3900 block of Graceland Avenue to hunt for more information in the slaying. Here's a look at what happened to Deshaun that night and where the case stands now.
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How did Deshaun Swanson die?
Deshaun and his mother, 33-year-old Shannon Swanson, went to the Graceland Avenue house the night of Sept. 19 to pay respects to an elderly woman who previously lived there. Swanson, a mother of five, told The Indianapolis Star she thought visiting the memorial service with Deshaun and his 11-year-old brother would be a good way to cheer up the woman's family.
Moments after they arrived around 8:30 p.m., the house was assaulted with bullets. Though Swanson told her children to take cover, Deshaun, the youngest of five, was hit.
Swanson said she tried putting pressure on the boy's wounds and yelled for someone to call 911. She performed CPR.
Though an ambulance rushed Deshaun to Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, he did not survive.
"I looked at the heart monitor," Swanson told The Star in September, "and my baby had no heartbeat.
"And I just held his hand, and I said my goodbyes."
Why was that house attacked?
The motivation for firing upon the Graceland Avenue home remains unclear — along with whom, if anyone, the shooters were targeting.
The shooting injured three others. One was a 16-year-old boy. He and the other victims — a 36-year-old man and a 56-year-old man — sustained nonfatal injuries to their limbs.
According to IMPD officials, the home had been the target of a previous narcotics investigation, though officials could not say whether the shooting was connected to that case.
Zelma Hutchins, the woman whose memorial service was being held that night, was not listed in police reports as a target of those investigations, IMPD spokesman Lt. Rick Riddle said.
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How did the city react?
Deshaun's funeral brought hundreds of mourners to Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, including IMPD Chief Rick Hite and department chaplain David L. Coatie.
Many who spoke at the funeral, including Coatie and Hite, called on anyone with information about the crime to step forward.
"We have a responsibility as a community to bring people to justice," Hite said at the time. "We know we had the answer in that room."
Deshaun is one of the youngest people to have died in a shooting in 2015. Earlier this year, 13-year-old Ashton Harting was killed on the Far Eastside. Charges against the teenager suspected of killing Harting were dropped, at least in part because of trouble locating a witness.
Where does the case stand?
Investigators say they still have no suspects in Deshaun's death.
On Wednesday, IMPD's North District held roll call outside the house where Deshaun was killed. More than a dozen patrol officers handed out fliers and talked to community members about the case.
North District Commander Chris Bailey said detectives face a number of obstacles in finding Deshaun's killer.
"To my knowledge, there's no physical evidence that leads us to a suspect," he said. "There's nothing we can test."
With that in mind, Bailey said it is important for someone who knows something about the crime to come forward — though he acknowledged that can pose difficulties.
"We as a police department have to build some stronger relationships," he said. "We have to be able to assure ... as a criminal justice system — the courts, prosecutor's office, everyone — that they're going to be safe when they come forward. I think that's a hurdle."
Bailey said, however, that people can still take advantage of tip lines such as CrimeStoppers, (317) 262-8477, to report information anonymously.
Bailey said he's also heard the criticisms that media and police aren't paying attention to other homicides to the same extent as cases such as the recent death of Amanda Blackburn, a pastor's wife. Two people were arrested in connection with Blackburn's killing Monday, 13 days after she was attacked.
"The only thing we can control is what we do," he said. "Everybody's life matters. When you lose it in a violent means, it doesn't matter how it happens. It's tragic, and it shouldn't happen."
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Call Star reporter Jill Disis at (317) 444-6137. Follow her on Twitter: @jdisis.