Antonio D. “Tone” McClain, a 29-year-old African American man, was killed on September 20, 2016, at a State Street apartment property in Elkhart, Indiana, in a burst of violence that also took the life of his brother, Anthony. In the hours after the shooting, neighbors spoke of the brothers by their nicknames—Tone and Tank—and described them as familiar, friendly faces around the building, the kind of people who made a place feel smaller and more like home.
Early accounts from
investigators painted a scene that unfolded fast: a fight or heated dispute, followed by gunfire, with detectives working to piece together exactly how the confrontation ignited and why it escalated to murder. Police said the brothers were shot in the stairwell area of the residence, and the county coroner confirmed both deaths were caused by gunshot wounds. At the time, authorities said they were still searching for a clear motive, urging anyone who knew what happened to come forward as they worked interviews and leads in the neighborhood.
As the case progressed, prosecutors later centered their narrative on a confrontation at 413 State Street involving James E. Ross Jr. Court reporting described Ross arriving at the property and confronting a female resident, issuing a threat about people he did not want to see there. According to the prosecution’s account, Antonio overheard the dispute and stepped in, refusing to let it continue unchecked on the property. When the argument did not end with words, Ross pulled a handgun and fired at close range, shooting both brothers in the face.
The investigation ultimately moved from uncertainty to a named suspect and formal charges. Ross was charged with the double murder months later, with reporting noting the filing came while he was already in court on a separate attempted-murder case stemming from an unrelated shooting later in 2016. In that other case, police had previously arrested Ross on an attempted murder charge after a shooting in an alleyway in Elkhart, and the matter remained part of the broader picture prosecutors and the defense would argue over in the wake of the McClain brothers’ deaths.
In February 2018, a jury convicted Ross of two counts of murder after a trial in which he argued he acted in self-defense, claiming he feared for his life. Prosecutors countered that claim with witness testimony and forensic evidence, maintaining the killings were not justified. In March 2018, the court imposed an enhanced sentence of 65 years for each murder count, ordered to be served consecutively, for a total of 130 years in prison. Shortly afterward, Ross also received an additional prison sentence in the attempted-murder case, adding more time beyond the 130-year term already imposed for the killings of Antonio “Tone” McClain and his brother.
