In the early moments of a Sunday morning in Michigan City, Indiana, police were dispatched to a residence in the 600 block of Spring Street just after midnight. The initial call reported a burglary in progress, with a concerning mention that someone may have been shot. When officers arrived at the scene on November 12, 2017, they discovered the body of Brian Cortez Turner Jr. inside a bedroom.
The 22-year-old male, known affectionately as “BJ,” had been fatally shot.
Brian, born on June 30, 1995, was a resident of Michigan City and a father to two children. He had a passion for cutting hair, a skill he had been honing since he was just 11 years old. In addition to being a loving father, he enjoyed listening to music and playing video games and had recently started a job at Steak-N-Shake. His life was cut short in what appeared to be a violent end to a home invasion.
The Michigan City Police Department immediately launched an investigation into the homicide. Detectives began processing the scene and interviewing potential witnesses. Their investigation quickly led them to a suspect. Within a short period, authorities announced they had found probable cause to arrest 22-year-old Joshua Ratliff in connection with Brian's death.
Following the investigation, Joshua Ratliff, a resident of Michigan City, was taken into custody and formally charged with murder. He was subsequently booked into the La Porte County Jail, where he was held on a $1 million bond while awaiting further legal proceedings. The arrest brought a swift, though not final, development in the tragic and sudden death of a young father.
