On October 8, 2014, authorities in Indianapolis, Indiana, made a grim discovery while responding to a violent crime scene on the city's east side. Police had initially been called to the 3300 block of North Wallace Avenue to investigate the fatal shooting of a young man named Dominic Amey Jr., who was found deceased outside. As investigators canvassed the area for evidence and witnesses related to that homicide, they entered a nearby vacant house.
Inside, they found the body of 32-year-old Eric Travelle Mathis, a Black male who had also suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
The proximity of the two bodies led to immediate speculation about a potential connection between the slayings, as they were discovered on the same morning within a short distance of one another. Despite the close timing and location, law enforcement officials initially stated that they did not believe the two deaths were directly related, treating them as separate investigations. The discovery of Mathis added a second layer of tragedy to a violent morning in the neighborhood, leaving the community and local authorities to grapple with two unsolved homicides occurring almost simultaneously on the same block.
Eric Mathis was remembered by a large circle of family and friends who were left to mourn his sudden and violent death. He was survived by his father, Charley Mathis, and his mother, Rosa Mathis, as well as two brothers, Carlos and Travis, and three sisters, LaShonya, LaTasha, and LaTara. He was also a father himself, leaving behind sons who bore his name. His family held a memorial celebration at the Williams & Bluitt Funeral Home, where they gathered to cherish his memory and support one another through the loss.
In the days following the discovery, the violence in the area continued to affect those grieving. A television news crew reporting on a prayer vigil for the other victim, Dominic Amey, was robbed at gunpoint and had their news vehicle stolen by an armed man. While the family of Amey expressed a belief that the perpetrator might be the same person responsible for the murders, police did not officially link the carjacking suspect to the death of Eric Mathis. Public records and crime summaries from that year do not indicate that any suspect was apprehended or charged specifically for the murder of Eric Mathis, leaving the case as one of several unsolved gun homicides from that period in Indianapolis.
