In the spring of 2020, a life was tragically cut short in South Bend, Indiana. On the evening of May 13th, 17-year-old Kelvin Stanford Jr., a male, was shot and killed. The incident unfolded in the 1100 block of E. McKinley Avenue just before 9 p.m. When police arrived at the scene, they found Stanford deceased and another juvenile with a gunshot wound.
An autopsy would later reveal that Stanford had been shot five times.
The events of that fatal evening began with an argument between Stanford and the cousin of Jaylin Tucker, who was also 17 at the time. The disagreement escalated to a physical fight in the front yard of a home. After the fight, Stanford, Tucker, Tucker's cousin, and another witness went inside the residence. Accounts from that point differ, but according to Tucker's cousin, Stanford produced a gun and ordered the cousin to leave. Another witness stated that while Stanford raised the gun, he did not point it at anyone. It was then that Tucker pulled out his own firearm and shot Stanford multiple times. He also fired at the other two individuals present until his gun was empty before fleeing the scene with his cousin. Investigators later found a handgun with no remaining ammunition in a nearby garbage bin.
Jaylin Tucker was soon identified as the suspect, and charges of murder and attempted murder were filed against him. Initially, Tucker was not in custody, and authorities sought public assistance in locating him. He was eventually apprehended, and the case proceeded to trial in March 2022. However, the trial ended in a mistrial due to a hung jury.
Following the mistrial, a plea agreement was reached in May 2022. Tucker, by then 19 years old, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Kelvin Stanford Jr. and to attempted battery with a deadly weapon for the shooting of the other teenager who survived. In June 2022, a judge sentenced Tucker to 15 years for voluntary manslaughter and five years for attempted battery. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
