Adriana Saucedo, a 27-year-old woman from Portage, Indiana, was remembered by her nephew as "the best aunt I could ever have." Family members said she taught him how to drive and to always believe in himself. Her life was cut short in November 2019 when a plan to buy marijuana, arranged over Facebook, turned into a fatal robbery.
The events began on the evening of November 19, 2019, after Ms.
Saucedo connected on Facebook with a 15-year-old boy from Gary, Roderick Silas, to buy marijuana and an iPhone. Silas and two friends, 16-year-old Shaun Thompson and 17-year-old Jonathan Brown, decided to rob her instead. The three teens picked Ms. Saucedo up from her home on Kathryn Court in a Pontiac Grand Am. After she gave them $20 for gas, Silas, who was driving, bypassed her house and pulled into the parking lot of a nearby business on Crisman Road. There, inside the car, Shaun Thompson shot and killed her.
After the shooting, the three teenagers drove to Gary and carried Ms. Saucedo’s body into the abandoned Horace S. Norton Elementary School, leaving her in the gymnasium. Her body would not be discovered for two days. After dumping her body, the teens went to eat at McDonald's and Pizza Hut.
Ms. Saucedo was reported missing the next day when she failed to show up for work. Portage police detectives gained access to her Facebook account and found her final conversation with Silas. They located the 15-year-old at his high school, Thea Bowman Leadership Academy, and took him in for questioning. Accompanied by his mother, Silas told investigators what had happened and led them to Ms. Saucedo’s body. All three teenagers were arrested soon after.
Shaun Thompson and Jonathan Brown were charged as adults with murder in the perpetration of a robbery and felony robbery. Roderick Silas was later waived from the juvenile system to face the same charges in adult court. Ultimately, all three defendants formally pleaded guilty to charges related to the robbery and murder of Adriana Saucedo.
In March 2021, Shaun Thompson, the gunman, became the last of the three to plead guilty, admitting to a felony count of murder in the perpetration of a robbery. Under the terms of his plea agreement, he faced a 55-year prison sentence with five years to be served on probation. Jonathan Brown and Roderick Silas had previously entered their own guilty pleas. The pleas brought a legal conclusion to the case as of March 2021.
