In the early morning hours of November 18, 2018, the life of 18-year-old Jontae Billups-Brooks, a male, was tragically cut short in Lafayette, Indiana. The Lafayette Police Department responded to a call of multiple shots fired at an apartment on Rubble Way at 4:32 a.m. Upon arrival, officers discovered Billups-Brooks suffering from a gunshot wound.
He was immediately transported to a local hospital where he was later pronounced deceased.
During the initial investigation, authorities learned of a second victim, Jontae's brother, Keyonte Billups-Brooks, who had been shot and had left the scene. He was located a short time later and taken to a hospital for treatment of his injuries, from which he was later released. The investigation quickly pointed to a person of interest, and the police asked for the public's assistance in locating 20-year-old Alexander Garcia-Johnson. Garcia-Johnson was described as a white male and was considered to be armed and dangerous. Police assured the community that they did not believe the shooting was a random act of violence.
Later that same evening, at approximately 6:45 p.m., the Lafayette Police Department's Street Crimes Unit located and arrested Alexander Garcia-Johnson in the 300 block of Cheshire Drive in Lafayette. He was taken into custody and booked into the Tippecanoe County Jail. While the investigation was initially treated as a homicide, the immediate charge listed upon his arrest was for being a serious violent felon in possession of a handgun. The investigation into the death of Jontae Billups-Brooks remained ongoing.
