In the early morning hours of July 26, 2014, a life was tragically cut short in East Chicago, Indiana. Kemond Coleman, an 18-year-old male, was fatally shot in the 3800 block of Alder Street. Pronounced dead at the scene at 3:50 a.m., his death was quickly ruled a homicide, leaving a community in shock and a family to grapple with a devastating loss.
Coleman was a student at East Chicago Central High School and was looking forward to his senior year.
The investigation into Kemond's murder uncovered a chilling motive rooted in gang violence. Approximately a year after the shooting, in July 2015, two men were federally charged in connection with his death. Marcus Lovell Jenkins, 26, of East Chicago, and Charles Garcia-Berrios, 22, of Hammond, were indicted for murder in aid of racketeering and use of a firearm in connection with a crime of violence. Both men were identified as members of the Two Six Nation street gang.
According to the indictment, Jenkins and Garcia-Berrios shot and killed Kemond Coleman to maintain and enhance their own positions within the violent gang. The charges brought against them were the result of a thorough investigation involving the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and local police departments. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Indiana prosecuted the case, underscoring a commitment to combatting gang-related violence in the region.
Further details from court proceedings revealed the grim reality of the night of the murder. Although the final dispositions and specific sentences for Marcus Lovell Jenkins and Charles Garcia-Berrios in the murder of Kemond Coleman are not readily available in public records, the federal charges they faced carried severe penalties. The indictment painted a picture of a senseless act of violence, where a young man's life was taken for the sake of status within a criminal organization.
