In the late hours of a Sunday night in Hammond, Indiana, a violent altercation at a Citgo gas station on Gostlin Street shattered the peace and irrevocably altered several lives. On October 17, 2021, 30-year-old Krystol McDonald-Jones, a Black/African American woman from Chicago, was caught in a deadly sequence of events that began with an argument between a group of masked individuals.
Witnesses reported hearing gunfire erupt near the intersection of Hohman Avenue and Gostlin Street, sending people scrambling for safety.
Following the initial dispute, Krystol, accompanied by 27-year-old Christienne Cloutier, fled the scene in a Buick Rendezvous. Their attempt to escape was tragically cut short. Police, responding to a call about a vehicle that had crashed into a building at Gostlin Street and State Line Avenue, discovered the Buick riddled with bullets. Inside, they found both Krystol and Christienne suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Krystol was pronounced dead at the scene, while Christienne was rushed to a nearby hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries. Miraculously, a young child also inside the vehicle was found unharmed and was subsequently taken into protective custody.
The investigation into the double homicide quickly revealed that the shooting was connected to a stolen silver Dodge Charger from Chicago, which the suspects used to flee the scene. Hammond police detectives worked to piece together the events leading to the shooting, which they described as an isolated incident. Their efforts led them to identify a suspect in the brutal slayings.
In November 2022, over a year after the incident, authorities announced a significant breakthrough in the case. Damon Calhoun, a 21-year-old from Chicago, was charged with two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Krystol McDonald-Jones and Christienne Cloutier. Court documents indicated that Calhoun, along with two other unidentified suspects who were involved in the carjacking of the Dodge Charger earlier that night, had engaged in the altercation at the gas station that preceded the fatal shooting. While Calhoun was taken into custody, the other two suspects remained at large, and authorities continued to seek information from the public to aid in their capture. The case remains a stark reminder of the devastating impact of gun violence.
