Hung jury on murder, NG on felony murder, attempted burglary for double homicide

FORT WAYNE, Ind. ---Would you rather be judged by 12 or carried by six?

That was the split second decision that Shan Ford, 29, had to make when he saw the gun emerge from the front door of the home on Hamilton Street.

It's what defense attorney Tyree Barfield told the jury Thursday during closing arguments, defending Ford for firing his gun, ultimately killing Tornor Doby, 29.

“He did what anyone of us would have done under the circumstances,” Barfield argued.

Shan Ford

Ford, 38, one of two charged in the shooting deaths of Tornor Doby, 29, and Anisha Jackson, 38, was found not guilty of felony murder and attempted burglary after a three-day trial in Allen Superior Court, Judge David Zent presiding. The jury hung on the murder charge, not able to make a decision on the question of self defense.

The story was that Doby became enraged over something or other after an incident at Quenecia Gaylor’s beauty parlor at McKinnie and Lafayette streets, contacting Jackson  on her cell phone more than 100 times, according to a probable cause affidavit by homicide detective Miranda Goodman.

Beauty salon on Lafayette Street, now closed. Quenecia Gaylor. Gaylor faces the same charges before a jury on Feb. 10.

Relatives of Jackson testified on the stand that the relationship, although romantic between Doby and Jackson, was also toxic and on and off. A friend familiar with the situation told The Probable Cause there’d been another man at the salon that evening and Doby saw something he didn't like on social media.

Doby went to the salon and heaved a computer through one of the windows. Quenecia, 37, filled out a police report, court documents said.

Quenecia, who was pregnant with Ford’s baby, and Ford went to Doby’s mother’s house at the turn of midnight - June 26 - to confront Doby about the vandalism. Initially, Ford was outside the home, calling Tornor out and “talking smack,” Barfield said.

“Come out or I’m gonna to paint this bitch up,” Ford yelled.

Quenecia, 38, in on the act, threw a brick through a window at the Doby home and called it a day.

“Don’t even worry about it. Now we’re even,” Gaylor claimed she said after the brick was thrown. Barfield repeated that line in his closing arguments.

During the tumult of the confrontation, Ford had a gun and so did Tornor. Tornor got his brother’s gun while his brother herded children up the stairs. A 10-year-old boy had answered the door initially when Ford appeared at the Doby home and Ford tried to enter, hence the charge for attempted burglary, a Level 5 felony.

Ford fired his gun 13 times; Doby, five. Barfield showed the surveillance video of the gun battle in his opening arguments. The Probable Cause counted the shots as the video could not be seen in the gallery.

Doby was struck and died inside the home of multiple gunshot wounds. Anisha, driving away with Quenecia in the passenger seat was struck by bullets from Doby’s gun, according to court testimony.

The two almost instantly met in the afterlife, a strange ending for their romantic, if often tumultuous, relationship.

Barfield argued that Ford shouldn’t be charged with Jackson’s death because he couldn’t possibly have been the one who shot her. Nor should Quenecia who was not armed with a gun and had disposed of her brick earlier on, he said.

However, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Tom Chaille argued that the two acted in concert and neither one of the victims would be dead if Ford hadn’t shown up armed and then used his gun.

“Two people are dead because of him,” Chaille told the jury in closing arguments, pointing to Ford. Chaille cited accomplice liability and said it was “almost offensive that with a straight face the defendant submitted self defense as a reason to find him not guilty.”

The jury deliberated more than seven hours. The prosecution has scheduled a trial setting for the retrial of a remaining count for next Wednesday. The remaining count is using a firearm in the commission of a crime and is usually referred to as the gun enhancement.