Muncie outreach groups respond to deadly Wednesday night shooting that left teen dead

MUNCIE, Ind. — The Muncie community is grappling with a shooting that left one teen dead and now five people between the ages of 14 and 19 are facing charges.

Court documents FOX59/CBS4 obtained Friday afternoon reveal police found surveillance footage that shows the moments leading up to Wednesday night’s shooting. Investigators said a group of people could be seen running from one apartment to another.

Detectives later determined that group was involved in the deadly shooting of 15-year-old Latajohne Phillips. The teen was found suffering from gunshot wounds in a bush at an apartment complex just after 10 p.m. Wednesday night. Phillips died at a hospital.

“Something like this not only hurts, like to the core, but it can rip the fabric of our community,” said Dorica Watson, co-Chair of Juneteenth Muncie.

FOX59/CBS4 spoke with activists from four different Muncie organizations who all shared a similar message following the shooting. Their message involved pain and anguish after someone so young was taken too soon.

“There’s a lot of hurting people in the community,” said Whitley Community Council Executive Director Ken Hudson. “Just yesterday at our food pantry, I was consoling volunteers.”

“It doesn’t get through our community without affecting just about all of us,” described Pastor Kevin Woodget, who is president of the Concerned Clergy of Muncie.

Those groups said the shooting also shines a light on a larger problem.

“We have to acknowledge that gun violence really, like overwhelmingly and disproportionately affects our community,” said WaTasha Barnes Griffin, the chair of the Indiana Black Expo Muncie Chapter. “Delaware County has less than 8% black and brown individuals, but we’re almost 70% of the gun violence[that] happens within our community. We have to look at the lack of investment in the communities of color coupled with weak gun laws. It has resulted in incidents of violence in our community.”

Outreach groups said they are working to make a difference and Wednesday’s shooting pushes them even further. It also reignites their call for more investments, resources and support for communities in need.

“It galvanizes us for one thing,” Woodget said. “It challenges us to look at what we’re doing and to look even closer to try and establish an even better conversation and a better way of handling and speaking to our youth.”

“It makes us think about all the things we could do better,” Hudson added. “It also helps us to remember the things we’re trying to improve upon and the results that we want to see in our community.”

Hudson, who represents the neighborhood association in the area where Wednesday’s shooting took place, said several groups have made efforts to mentor youth and provide support. His group is adding a small youth mentoring program and aims to build a new resource hub in the community.

“We know we can’t provide every answer through the neighborhood association, but we can bring the answers in and put them under that roof,” Hudson said. “We’re looking to introduce healthcare, homeownership programs, financial literacy programs, credit repair programs, education for our youth and our adults. And a whole litany of other things that can take place.”

Following Wednesday night’s shooting, 19-year-olds Dasha Eckford and Ricky Nathan are now facing preliminary charges of conspiracy to commit robbery resulting in death, obstruction and aiding or causing an offense.

Three teenagers, a 14-year-old, 16-year-old and 17-year-old, are also facing those same preliminary charges.

Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman did not want to comment on the specifics of the case, but did share the following statement about juvenile gun crime in the area:

“Muncie does indeed have a juvenile gang problem. The prosecutor’s office has been doing and will continue to do everything we can to stem the tide of gang activity and violence. However we often run into problems enforcing the law because (1) unlike adults who are arrested juvenile probation must approve placement in juvenile detention – that permission is not always granted which creates a revolving door to the juvenile system and (2) unlike adult court, the prosecutor has to have the permission of the juvenile court to file charges. That permission is not always given – both are issues I have asked legislators to address”.

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