Rap lyrics tell homicide story, prosecutors say, in second gang murder trial for same victim

ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. ---It’s a bit of a conceit here in Fort Wayne that we don’t really have gangs.

These groups of mostly boys, and the girls who love them, are called cliques, not considered to be in the big leagues like the gangs you find in Chicago or LA.

And the cliques don’t last for life, supposedly. The boys become young men, then fathers and maybe grandfathers. They get out, if they’re lucky.

Ayvion Parker, just 19 years old in September 2023, never had a chance to make that transition. As a member of the Big Money Gang, more commonly known as BMG, he was killed in a shootout, an ambush by four boys from the Big Swen Gang or BSG, as he and his younger brother walked out of a party at Villa Capri Apartments around 2 a.m.

Defendant Christopher Recht (l) with his attorneys David Felts and David Joley (r). in court Tuesday.

He was worried enough to be carrying two guns, according to court testimony Tuesday in the murder trial of Christopher Recht, one of the alleged shooters. 

The guns didn’t do him much good when four dudes pulled up in a car and started shooting. After they unleashed a barrage of bullets on Parker and his 17-year-old brother, they took off in a black Chevrolet Cruz that belonged to one of the girls.

Responding officers and EMS found the younger brother crying over his dead brother, cradling him in his arms, according to the probable cause affidavit submitted by homicide detective Aaron Johnson.

Detectives plumbed social media and found rap videos tying Recht, now 21, to the homicides. Words like “All that dissing he was doing, they ain’t think we was going to get him back, front yard Boogie, more through the mail you gonna get it back.”

Boogie or Boog or Aboog are variations of Parker’s nickname.

Then there’s this one: “It’s a showdown, a n—-a tried to hit his block and it’s going down, bitch we got more rounds, Buddy shot the little n—-a hit the floor and it did’t make no sound

You know I’m hopping out on feet,I’m trying to burn n—-a, faced y’all little brother, hawked him down, but that little n—-a ain’t die.”

How does one get around those lyrics? It will probably be difficult.

The prosecution led by Chief Counsel Tesa Helge and deputy prosecutor Rebecca Grove will undoubtedly use the same evidence they used against Terrance Sanders, convicted in August of the same charges - murder and attempted murder. He was sentenced in September to more than 100 years.

Recht’s attorneys, David Felts and David Joley, will remind the jury that the state must prove  beyond a reasonable doubt that Recht was involved.

Tuesday, Joley questioned the little brother, now living in another state, on where the bullets came from as they walked from the apartment that night. Was Recht in front or in the back of him when the gang let rip all those bullets, so numerous that 9-1-1- calls came in multiples, Helge said.

Detectives recovered 30 shell casings on scene and those included .40 caliber, 9mm and .223 rounds.

What was unexpected in Tuesday’s opening of Recht’s murder trial was the “forfeiture by wrongdoing” hearing prior to the jury coming into the courtroom.

The hearing containing hearsay centered on threats Ayvion’s younger brother had received since the shooting. A.P., same initials as his brother, had testified in Sanders’ trial and didn’t want any part of continuing that path.

But he’d copped two Level 5 felonies for illegal gun possession prior to the shooting when he would have been a minor.

Not wanting to testify because of threats from the BSG, he accepted a plea deal which allows probation and the right to leave the state.  

After his brother was killed, the rivals found him in Chicago and beat him up when he turned up alone at a party at an Airbnb, leaving him in a basement without his clothes.

Then they asked for money - a lot of it - and he asked to make a call. He called a girl who called the cops who showed up right away, according to A.P.’s testimony.

Now when he leaves Fort Wayne, and he will, he’ll have to find yet another city, until someday, the hope is people forget about whatever disrespect got them in this horrible place. 

The courtroom was next to empty on Tuesday although Recht had family who showed up. Was it because people are still too scared to show their faces for this homicide victim?

The Gang & Violent Crimes Unit knew who these guys were before the shootings even happened and one very knowledgable detective, Marc Deshaies, will take the stand this week.

Opening arguments by Helge and Felts can be seen on YouTube under The Probable Cause.