Tyran Bolling was a 25-year-old chef and father from Evergreen Park, Illinois, described by his mother as a very caring person. In the early morning hours of December 13, 2019, he was shot and killed on a street in Hammond, Indiana. Just after midnight, Bolling told his girlfriend he was going outside their apartment in the 4400 block of Henry Avenue because his ride had arrived.
His girlfriend then looked out the window and witnessed him being gunned down.
When Hammond police arrived at about 12:15 a.m., they found Bolling on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds. Though he was conscious and able to speak with first responders, the Black/African American male later died at a local hospital. An autopsy determined he had been shot in the leg, chest, and face. At the scene, investigators recovered six 9mm cartridge casings and Bolling’s cellphone. Witnesses reported seeing a man get out of an older, small black car, shoot Bolling several times, and then speed away.
The investigation into Bolling’s death soon focused on a dispute over a woman. According to prosecutors, the incident was set in motion after a man named Lamont Turentine discovered that his girlfriend, Emani Edwards, was flirting via text messages with Bolling, who was a longtime friend of hers. Turentine allegedly hit Edwards, took her phone, and then continued messaging Bolling while pretending to be her. He used the messages to lure Bolling outside, making him believe Edwards was coming to pick him up.
Detectives identified the suspect as Lamont “Ski” Turentine of Chicago. Surveillance footage and license plate readers tracked his black 1998 Honda Civic traveling from Chicago to the Hammond crime scene shortly before the shooting and returning to Chicago immediately after. Forensic testing also linked the shell casings found at the scene to casings recovered months earlier outside a Chicago residence associated with Turentine. After the murder, Turentine and Edwards fled, traveling to Arkansas and New Orleans before being arrested about two years later.
Emani Edwards was granted immunity in exchange for her testimony against Turentine. In April 2026, Turentine, then 32, went on trial in Lake County. A jury convicted him of murder and a firearm enhancement.
In June 2026, a judge sentenced Lamont Turentine to a total of 76 years in the Indiana Department of Correction. The sentence consisted of 58 years for the murder conviction and an additional 18 years for the use of a firearm in the crime.
