GREENFIELD — A 17-year-old Greenfield boy is being charged as an adult with three felonies in last week’s shooting that injured a teenage boy.
Ethan Emilio Melendez, 17, Greenfield, faces charges of carrying a handgun without a license, carrying without a license on or within 500 feet of a school, a Level 5 felony; pointing a firearm at another, a Level 6 felony; and criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon, also a Level 6 felony.
“The nature of the offense is such that the juvenile court does not have jurisdiction, so it goes to adult court,” said Brent Eaton, Hancock County prosecutor.
The first charge stems from the incident location’s proximity to Greenfield Intermediate School.
The shooting was reported at around 6:40 a.m. Oct. 7 in a residence in the 800 block of North Noble Street. A 15-year-old male victim was transported to Eskenazi Hospital in Indianapolis and later listed in stable condition.
A probable cause affidavit filed in the case Monday cites a Greenfield Police Department interview with two juvenile witnesses with their lawyer and mother present. One of the witnesses said he was with the victim before the shooting when Melendez called the victim and asked if he could come over. Melendez arrived a short while later, and they were all hanging out in the witness’s bedroom. The second juvenile witness was in the bedroom as well, but was reported to have been asleep.
The witness said about 10 minutes later, he saw Melendez pull a black Glock 19 pistol from a couch and point it at the victim. In a separate interview with police, Melendez said that gun was the victim’s, according to the affidavit. The witness said Melendez asked the victim if a bullet was loaded in the chamber and that the victim said no shortly before the gun went off.
The witness said he then saw blood gushing from the victim’s arm. Melendez began acting hysterically and put the gun in a backpack he brought with him, the witness told police.
After the shot, the victim walked to the front door of the residence and the witness followed, the affidavit continues. The witness said Melendez ran in front of the victim, out the front door and to a neighbor’s house, where he told the neighbor that the victim had been shot and to call for help. Melendez then left for a short time, the witness said.
The witness said he returned to his bedroom a short while later and saw Melendez using his shirt to wipe off a shell casing before throwing it toward an open window and creating a story that the victim was shot from the window.
During the investigation, a Hancock County Sheriff’s Department K-9 officer found a backpack next to a fence about two houses north of the residence where the shooting occurred. Among its contents were a debit card and Pike school ID in Melendez’s name; a black Glock pistol and a black and tan Glock pistol. Each gun had an extended magazine inserted; the slide cover plates also had been changed, allowing them to function as fully automatic, according to the affidavit. A search warrant executed on Melendez’s cellphone revealed photos and videos of him in possession of both guns.
The affidavit reports that during the police interview with Melendez, during which his father was present, Melendez said the black and tan gun was his. Melendez said he bought the black and tan gun from someone in Indianapolis, knowing it had been converted to fully automatic, according to the affidavit. He also said the backpack the police dog found was his and that he brought his black and tan gun with him in his backpack to visit the witness and the victim.
Melendez said he was in the bedroom when the victim was shot and that he walked the victim to another residence on North Noble Street afterward, the affidavit continues. He said he then returned to the witness’s bedroom to recover his backpack, exited the house out a back door and hid it.
Melendez was transported and processed at the Hamilton County Juvenile Services Center, according to the affidavit.
Eaton said while Melendez is charged as an adult, his age prevents him from being detained in the Hancock County Jail.
Eaton added he appreciates how aggressive police were in their investigation, allowing for enough information to be gathered to file charges promptly.
“We certainly appreciate everyone’s work in allowing us to do that, especially considering the additional demands on the police department last week during the Riley Festival,” Eaton said.
