In a tragic turn of events on May 19, 2020, 19-year-old Trevion Hudnell, a male resident of Gary, Indiana, was fatally shot in what was reported as a double homicide. Hudnell, along with 21-year-old Phillip Phillips, also of Gary, sustained gunshot wounds that resulted in their deaths. The incident unfolded in a vehicle, and though the initial police response was to the 1300 block of Grant Street, it was determined that the actual shooting occurred at a different location.
Initially, two
individuals, Xavier Watson and Mikal Franklin, were charged with the murders of Hudnell and Phillips. However, the case took a significant turn when the charges against Watson and Franklin were dropped. The pair claimed they had acted in self-defense, alleging that Hudnell and Phillips were attempting to rob them. This claim led to the dismissal of the murder charges against them.
The story did not end there, as the community was rocked by a subsequent act of violence believed to be in retaliation for the deaths of Hudnell and Phillips. In July 2020, a shooting targeted the family of Xavier Watson, resulting in the death of 16-year-old Christopher Watson and the wounding of a 56-year-old man. Following this incident, authorities arrested and charged three individuals with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder: 19-year-old Devonte T. Phillips, the younger brother of Phillip Phillips, 18-year-old Thaddeus S. McWilliams, and 17-year-old Christian I. Nelson, all from Gary. The Watson family had reportedly been receiving death threats and were in the process of moving from their home at the time of the retaliatory attack.
