INDIANAPOLIS — A suspect has been charged with murder in the deadly shooting of another woman Feb. 1 at an apartment complex on the southeast side of Indianapolis.
On Feb. 8, the Marion County Prosecutor's Office charged 29-year-old Shante Donelson with murder and unlawful carrying of a handgun in connection with the fatal shooting of 36-year-old Dyeshia Tene Turner.
Investigators said they got a call around 7:30 p.m. Feb. 1 about a disturbance involving a woman with a metal bat in the 1400 block of South Bancroft Street, near Emerson and Southeastern avenues.
When they got on scene, crime scene tape quickly went up after finding a woman dead near a playground at Rodney Terrace Apartments, suffering from what appeared to be gunshot wounds.
Friday, the Marion County Coroner's Office identified the victim as Turner and ruled her death a homicide.
Detectives began their investigation and identified Donelson as the alleged suspect.
Officers located and arrested Donelson Monday, Feb. 5 at an apartment complex near Emerson and East Churchman avenues.
Less than 24 hours after the shooting, 19-year-old Malaya Ford was unpacking a truck, just hundreds of feet away from where that crime scene had been the night before, surrounding the body of Turner, who Ford said she knew from the neighborhood.
"We weren't close or nothing, but we have acquaintances with her," said Ford, explaining that she was moving back into Rodney Terrace to live with her mom because she couldn't afford the rent she was paying for an apartment in Broad Ripple.
"I was paying $1,400 for a two-bedroom apartment," Ford said.
She won't have to worry about that now.
"At least I'll be living with my family and live for free," Ford said.
The trade-off, though, can sometimes be scenes like the one from the night before.
"This is what you got to live in if you want to live for free and live affordable. You just got to live with the consequences and what comes with it," Ford said.
It's a familiar choice for her.
"All my life, I've lived in places like this. People die. I see people die. That's what it is," Ford said.
Thursday night, the person who died was someone Ford knew. A situation, that's also a familiar one for her, even at 19.
"I seen this all my life, so it don't bother me," Ford said.
Even so, she wishes it was different.
"Change needs to happen, but if people aren't willing to change, nothing's going to change," Ford said.
If you have information that could assist police, you're asked to contact IMPD Det. Steven Gray at 317-327-3475 or e-mail Steven.Gray@indy.gov.
You can also contact Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana anonymously at 317-262-8477 (TIPS).