In the late summer of 2015, the life of 32-year-old Clarence Wade Havard III, a male employee of the City of Indianapolis, was tragically cut short. On the evening of Wednesday, August 26, Havard was found shot in the Butler-Tarkington neighborhood, a community on the north side of the city. The incident occurred along Bernard Avenue, leaving a family and community grappling with a sudden and violent loss.
Known affectionately as 'Wade,' he was remembered as a man full of life, and his death was a profound blow to those who knew him.
The pain of Havard's death was compounded by an almost unimaginable history of tragedy for his family. He was one of three sons, out of seven children, to be killed by gun violence in Indianapolis. In 2003, his brother, Clarence Jr., was also the victim of an unsolved murder. Just a year later, in 2004, another brother, Charles, was killed, although an arrest was made in his case. This devastating pattern of loss cast a long shadow over the family, who were once again forced to navigate the grief of a loved one being taken from them.
In the wake of the shooting, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department launched an investigation into Havard's death. However, the case proved to be challenging, and as the months turned into a year, there was little progress in identifying a suspect. By late 2016, his murder was one of four unsolved homicides that had occurred in the Butler-Tarkington area in 2015. Despite pleas from his family for answers and closure, no arrests have been made, and no suspects have been publicly identified in connection with the shooting. The case of who killed Clarence Havard remains unresolved, a lingering source of pain and unanswered questions for his family.
