In the afternoon of Saturday, May 20, 2017, Felipe Gutierrez, a 46-year-old man from Ligonier, Indiana, was fatally shot while sitting in the driver's seat of his black BMW. The incident occurred in the parking lot of the Charles Black Recreational Center in South Bend. Gutierrez, who was originally from Aguascalientes, Mexico, had worked at Silgan Plastics in Ligonier for over two decades.
He was a father to one daughter and a stepfather to two others.
The tragic event unfolded around 2:00 p.m. when Gutierrez had arranged to meet someone to purchase an iPhone 7 for $200, a transaction that was set up through Facebook Marketplace. Two individuals entered the backseat of his car to complete the sale. However, the situation quickly escalated into a robbery. One of the men seated behind the passenger pulled out a gun and demanded money. While a witness in the car complied, Gutierrez reportedly reached for a weapon in the driver's door panel. In the ensuing moments, the armed individual in the back seat shot Gutierrez. The two men then fled the scene, leaving a cell phone behind in the vehicle.
An investigation led by the St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit swiftly identified suspects. Within days, two 17-year-olds, George Lee Watson and Qualan Jones, were arrested on preliminary charges of murder. A third teenager, a 16-year-old, was also taken into custody. The investigation revealed that the planned sale of the iPhone was a ruse for a robbery. Watson allegedly admitted to setting up the deal. Further investigation led to the identification of a fifth suspect, 16-year-old Devin Brantley, who was apprehended in November 2018. The other four suspects had already been sentenced to prison by the time of Brantley's arrest. George Watson Jr. was charged with murder, felony murder, and robbery, while Qualan Jones was charged with one count of felony murder.
