Man gets 5 years in fatal shooting case
Post-Tribune staff report October 31, 2012 5:02PM
Updated: December 2, 2012 2:11PM
Lake Superior Court Judge Thomas Stefaniak Jr. sentenced a Gary man to five years in prison for carrying a handgun without a license.
Evan Jauntae Hodge, 30, who had been charged with murder in the case, admitted he was involved in a shooting on April 3 with Ricardo Morris in the parking lot of the Citgo station at 401 S. Grand Blvd., Gary, and that he didn’t have a license for the pistol. Morris, 39, died later that day of his injuries.
Hodge, who had a 2002 felony conviction for possession of cocaine, exchanged gunfire with Morris after Morris laid in wait for him, defense attorney Teresa Hollandsworth said, based on video surveillance footage.
“The fact that he was charged with murder in the first place is overcharging by the state,” she said. Hodge was carrying a handgun because Hodge was shot in the back in January outside the Miller Village Apartments.
Deputy prosecutor Angela Mattozzi argued for the agreed five-year sentence to be served in prison in light of Hodge’s criminal history, which began when he was a juvenile.
