In the early days of October 2007, the city of Indianapolis, Indiana, was shaken by a series of violent events that claimed the life of Andre Norris, a 37-year-old Black male. The incident occurred amidst a troubling spike in local homicides, with police investigators scrambling to find connections between three separate killings that took place within a few blocks of one another. Andre "Dre" Norris, Sr.
was discovered shot to death on Tuesday, October 2, 2007, just days after another young man had been found murdered nearby.
The investigation into Norris's death was complicated by the fear and silence that often grip communities facing such violence. Detectives from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department worked to piece together the timeline, noting that Norris was killed down the street from where 20-year-old Howard Stevenson had been found dead just a short time prior. Following Norris's death, a third victim, Joseph Slater, was gunned down in a parking lot at 38th and Illinois streets, leading law enforcement to consider the possibility that a single perpetrator or group might be responsible for the cluster of attacks. Witnesses in the Slater case described a late-1990s metallic green Cadillac with chrome rims fleeing the scene, a vehicle that became a focal point for investigators trying to link the tragedies.
Despite the intense scrutiny and the proximity of the crimes, information was difficult to come by, with police noting that potential witnesses were reluctant to come forward due to fear of retaliation. Norris left behind a grieving family, including his wife Tanecka Woodson Norris, his mother Elner Norris, and his four children, Andrea, Terion, Andre Jr., and Andrew. Family and friends gathered to pay their final respects at the Friendship Missionary Baptist Church on Goodlet Avenue the following week. Years later, databases tracking homicide clearance rates continued to list Norris among the thousands of victims whose cases had not resulted in an arrest, highlighting the persistent challenges in solving such crimes in the area.
