'He got jumped': bar fight at Piere's ends in fatal stabbing

Shooting at Thunderbowl #1 a week later could be related

FORT WAYNE, Ind. ---"Try to prosecute a bar fight.” You've probably heard our Allen County Prosecutor say that on the podcast The Probable Cause.

These days, there's surveillance video that can help out an investigation, although with numerous people in the frames, it can be difficult to discern who is doing what.

That’s what a source close to the defendant in the Piere’s stabbing incident believes is the case. The source will stay anonymous for multiple reasons.

“He got jumped,” was the explanation for the fatal Piere's stabbing the day after Thanksgiving. “Read between the lines.”

Piere's Entertainment Center

Immanuel “Manny” Ryshawn Walker, 27, was taken into custody in the 2600 block of Painted Desert Run by the Fort Wayne Police Department’s Homicide Task Force Dec. 6, about a week after two people were stabbed at the club, an FWPD news release said. Piere's is in the 5600 block of St. Joe Road on the city's northeast side.

Online court records say Walker is charged with murder and Felony 5 battery by means of a deadly weapon. He is being held without bail at the Allen County Jail.

Jermichael James, 28, was identified by the Allen County Coroner as the man who died of stab and incised wounds to the torso.

An incised wound “is produced by a sharp edge and is usually longer than it is deep. Because of the sharp-force mechanism of injury, incised wounds lack tissue bridging and often display very clean, sharp wound edges. Knives, box cutters, glass, and metal typically cause incised wounds. In contrast, stab wounds are sharp-force injuries produced by a pointed instrument where the depth of the wound is greater than the length of the wound on the skin,” according to information taken from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) website.

In the probable cause affidavit submitted by homicide detective Jean Gigli, detectives identified Walker in club surveillance video. He was wearing a plaid colored shirt, tan boots and light colored pants

Around 1:40 a.m. Walker got into a physical fight with two guys, one of whom Walker is said to have stabbed. Walker was “manipulating an object in his hands and chasing after this victim making a stabbing like hand motion to the victim's lower to mid-back area,” Gigli wrote.

Why the fight took place is not explained. Online chatter pointed to "a beef," or feud.

Immanuel Walker

After the initial stabbing, Jermichael James went over to Walker and punched him. Walker fell to the ground and James walked away towards the back bar area.

Walker got up and followed James and both Walker and a bouncer fell to the ground. Then James and Walker got into a physical fight by the back bar area. Court documents say the video evidence shows Walker stabbing James while they are fighting. In the final moments, James fell to the ground and Walker walked away.

Ten minutes later at 1:50 a.m. Walker "was observed leaving Piere’s establishment and leaving the area with blood on his shirt and pants,” Gigli wrote.

The surviving victim was treated for one stab wound at a local hospital.

Wednesday evening, an employee at Piere’s, told The Probable Cause there was security at the event, but it wasn’t Piere’s security. It was security hired by the band. 

Walker is at the Allen County Jail where he will likely stay until his trial which could be months or even years away. Currently, it’s estimated there are about 60 people charged with murder at the jail and the courts are congested. In Indiana, you cannot bail out on a murder charge.

Allen County has the third most congested courts in the state, particularly in the Allen Superior Court criminal division, according to a ranking known as “weighted measures.” It shows the “severity of need” in the judicial ranks of a county, weighing caseloads to the number of judges. The Indiana Office of Court Services publishes a chart every year with updates.

The remedy is to get another judge, but the county has to request another judge and the hiring must be approved by the state legislature. The counties deemed more in need were Vigo and Hamilton, in the list updated in July. 

The streets are saying that the shooting at the Thunderbowl #1 bowling alley was related to the stabbing at Piere’s. For the moment, one individual has been arrested.

Tristan Pernell, 24, was arrested Monday and charged with Level 1 attempted murder, Level 3 aggravated battery, Level 5 battery by means of a deadly weapon and Level 5 criminal recklessness shooting a firearm into a gathering.

Apparently, Pernell was shot as well as being a shooter (or one of the shooters) and may be in the hospital as he has not appeared on the Allen County Sheriff’s Department website.

There is no date for his initial hearing in online court documents.