'Sitting ducks:' Accused killer on trial for car shooting on Romy Avenue

ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. ---Two weeks later, and, once again we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of an Allen County courtroom with mindful bailiffs keeping an eye on the courtroom, security monitoring activities outside the courthouse, lots of families and friends and not-so-great friends in the hallways, and the lingering smell of weed.

Gang involvement is hush-hush at this murder trial. Reading through the probable cause, there are no rap lyrics that tie Dionee White, 23, to the 2024 homicides of Adaija “Daisy” Okey and Lamarion “LD” Bailey. No boastful text messages.

Dionee White

No criminal charge of gang activity is tacked on to charges like there were in the murder trials of Terrance Sanders in August and Christopher Recht in early March.

Both of those men, now convicted of murder, were known to law enforcement as members of the Big Swen Gang or BSG.

The Probable Cause obtained inside information that White was affiliated with the Big Money Gang or BMG, rivals of BSG. That means the victim, “LD,” was associated with the rival gang, according to the source.

In this murder narrative, young men approached a vehicle, unloaded their guns on people sitting inside and then fled like cowards?

Tuesday, that is what prosecutors say happened. "Like sitting ducks," according to Chief Counsel Tesa Helge.

The prosecution is relying on witness statements, DNA, and surveillance video of a borrowed black Cadillac SUV that made its way just around 8 p.m. on Jan. 29, 2024 to and from the crime scene at 736 Romy Ave. The vehicle traveled to State Street, then Elmer Avenue and Wells Street to a “swap” vehicle.

In opening arguments, Helge said the surveillance would be "knitted" together. The owner of the black Cadillac SUV told police he loaned the car to “D White” around 4 or 5 p.m. and it was returned around 10 p.m.

Adaija Armani Okey

DNA tests came back to show White was in that vehicle, Helge said, but his defense attorney, Tyree Barfield, said the car was loaned to many people and so it doesn’t directly link him to that night or that crime.

The back seat witness who dove for cover in the silver 2013 Hyundai after he heard gunshots and saw muzzle flashes wasn’t ready to name Dionee White as the one he saw shooting when he got on the stand Tuesday and he made that clear.

“You did’t want to testify today, did you?” Helge asked him. “No,” he told her.

The dialogue was much like what happened at the trial two weeks ago; witnesses who talked to detectives just after the homicides suddenly couldn’t remember facts or statements on the stand. 

There may have been a sweetener like a plea deal the survivor got on a criminal charge, but his voice didn't reach people in the gallery, although you'd think a young man, now around 19 years old, surely would have the capacity to speak up, if he wanted to.

The shooting survivor claimed to detectives that he was listening to music with his headphones on and didn’t know who Bailey was talking to, further distancing himself from the situation even though he called the male victim his brother. He ducked when the shooting occurred and reached for the door to escape. 

His mom was more forthcoming. Ever so softly, she told the jury that the survivor told her that it was Dionee White he saw shooting.

There are two accused in this double homicide. White and Uronne Washington, 18, who is scheduled to go in front of a jury in July.

Uronne Washington

The two, allegedly at this point, are seen backing the Cadillac into an alley on St. Joseph Boulevard then, clad in all dark clothing, sneaking up to Romy Avenue, shooting several rounds into the car, then running back toward the Cadillac.

A witness at that location said he saw one of the two with a handgun in his hand, according to the homicide detective Ben MacDonald who wrote the probable cause affidavit. 

Surveillance cameras also located the swap vehicle at a home in the 600 block of 5th Street where Dionee White and his mother lived, court documents said.

The victims were dating. Adaija Armani Okey was just 17 when the bullets ended her life, full of promise. A student at Snider High School, she’d been accepted to Marian University on a full ride scholarship to study business, according to her obituary and her mother.

A makeup artist, she owned her own business Glam’d by Armani, had worked as a model in LA Fashion Week and was slated to attend New York Fashion Week. She was active on TikTok, working as a brand ambassador. 

Less is known of Bailey who was 18 when he was killed. According to an online obituary, he was laid to rest in Elgin, Illinois.

Note: Some witnesses are not named to protect their lives.