Murder trial witnesses on the stand couldn't remember key points

FORT WAYNE, Ind. ---No matter how Deputy Prosecutor Tesa Helge chose her words, no matter that she read back witness statements in a police interview, four key witnesses couldn’t seem to remember anything Tuesday on the first day of Jalan Carpenter’s murder trial.

They didn’t know the defendant, Jalan Carpenter, now 22, charged with murder in the shooting death of John Peterson on March 26, 2021.

They weren’t aware that Carpenter and Peterson nearly came to blows that evening at Peterson’s girlfriend’s house during a party.

Jalan Carpenter

They couldn’t tell you if the defendant arrived in a silver Impala and couldn't remember talking to a detective.

No one saw the big gun propped up against the kitchen wall that supposedly came in with Carpenter.

And Peterson’s girlfriend, M.C., who shortly after the homicide identified Carpenter in a photo,  said Tuesday “she didn’t know who it was for sure.”

When a frustrated Helge asked the last witness if it was “fair to say you don’t want to remember what you said,” the witness shot back “fair to say, I don’t remember.”

It was exasperating for the state and the family of John Peterson, 19 when he was killed, but a boon for the defense. 

Robert Scremin, Carpenter’s defense attorney, stood up to confirm what the witnesses couldn’t remember. In his opening argument, Scremin had even allowed that some of the evidence presented by the state was true, but the part about Carpenter doing the shooting wasn’t verifiable.

“He leaves the party in a silver Impala. This had nothing to do with Jalan Carpenter,” Scremin told the jury.

Prosecutors Helge and Evan Thorstad maintain that Carpenter left the party on Willard Drive, but came back to pick up his friend, Linzell Parhm (who was killed in June 2024 in an officer-involved shooting.)

That’s when Carpenter and Peterson had an argument and M.C. and her sister had to separate them.

Carpenter wasn’t charged with murder until exactly a year ago when prosecutors were able to put together missing pieces of the puzzle.

An incarcerated witness came forward to report that he had played dice with some people who talked about the murder and were responsible for it. 

The witness said Carpenter was the “main shooter,” who killed Peterson because Peterson refused to pay for some drugs. 

“I was out the window, blowing that n——a,” Carpenter reportedly said at the dice table, court documents said.

After Carpenter left the party, footage viewed in court showed Carpenter at a Shell gas station in the 6300 block of State Boulevard being handed a long gun wrapped in a towel or blanket. He was in the passenger seat in a black Chevy Tahoe.

During the investigation, homicide detective Ben MacDonald found Carpenter wearing the same hoodie on social media that he’s wearing in the gas station video, Helge said. It’s a hoodie with an unusual design resembling bats.

The gas station surveillance video captured the Chevy Tahoe following Peterson in a red Ford Fusion.

Around 10:30 p.m., gunfire erupted at Vance and Reed where 17 shell casings were found on the ground. 

Although no gun has been recovered, the shell casings indicated the gun was a .300 blackout rifle, an unusual firearm, Helge said.

Fort Wayne detectives attempted to buy the gun at one point and were robbed! according to the probable cause and court testimony. 

Court docs say just after the shooting, the passenger, J.W., in the Ford Fusion drove the car to the Willard Drive party house with his hand on the accelerator after he dove for cover. On the stand, an officer estimated the drive was about 450 yards away.

J.W. said he noticed the black Tahoe behind them and then Peterson yelled “Someone’s getting out!” When J.W. heard the gunfire, he went to the floor.

Jurors heard 9-1-1 calls from Peterson’s girlfriend, M.C., who Tuesday was one of four whose recollection was lacking. Repeatedly in court, they said "I'm not sure" and "I don't remember." All of them blamed it on drinking after a repast for a cousin who died way too young.

In the courtroom, there was, perhaps, the intimidating presence of many of Carpenter’s friends and/or associates. In court documents, the name of their gang or group is called “Ballhard.” 

Helge told the jury that the prosecution will play a rap related to the homicide.

But what the prosecution believes ties much of the evidence together is the eventual search of Carpenter’s home where his two phones were seized and .300 blackout ammunition was found. 

Phone calls were made before and after the homicide, Helge said in court.

“There were no calls during the homicide,” she said.

The trial continues this week in Allen Superior Court, Judge Fran Gull presiding.