Ezekiel 'Zeke' Summers, a 19-year-old Black male, tragically lost his life on the night of April 6, 2019, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He was fatally shot on a sidewalk at the Kingston Square apartments located on the city's northeast side. His death was part of a particularly violent 24-hour period in Indianapolis that saw a total of six homicides, all of which remained unsolved at the time.
Summers, who resided in Howard County but was enrolled at the Indianapolis XL Center to complete his education, had been lured to the apartment complex under a seemingly innocent pretense.
According to his mother, Tashawnna Summers, Ezekiel had been asked by a friend to bring Karo syrup to the apartment to help with a constipated two-week-old baby he believed to be his son. Despite his mother's advice to wait for a DNA test to confirm paternity, Ezekiel's sense of responsibility urged him to go. His mother believes this compassionate act may have led him into a fatal trap, stating that her son 'died trying to be a father.' She suspects the individuals involved were friends he trusted. The young woman at the apartment later told Ezekiel's mother that someone forced their way into the residence, at which point she grabbed her son and ran upstairs.
The motive behind Ezekiel Summers's murder remains unclear to investigators. For years, the case has grown cold, and despite the emotional pleas from his family for anyone with information to come forward, no arrests have been made, and no suspects have been publicly identified. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has indicated that without new tips from the public, they have pushed the investigation as far as they currently can. The lack of closure has been a source of ongoing anguish for his mother, who continues to seek justice and answers in the senseless killing of her son.
