Convicted armed robber charged with Gary double homicide
by Lori Caldwell lcaldwell@post-trib.com|648-3258 January 28, 2013 4:56PM
Samuel Franklin. | Provided photo~Sun-Times Media
Updated: March 2, 2013 6:17AM
GARY — A convicted armed robber still on probation is charged with the double slaying of two men shot in the head while giving the suspect a ride on Jan. 14.
Samuel L. Franklin, 20, of 125 W. 7th Ave., was charged Monday with two counts of murder in the deaths of Terrell Frazier, 21, and Deshalone Williams, 18.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Franklin, who will be held without bail when he is apprehended.
Witnesses told Detective Cpl. James Nielsen that Williams was driving his car that night and Frazier was in the back seat. They stopped at a gas station at 15th Avenue and Clark Road and Williams spoke to a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt, the probable cause affidavit states.
Frazier and the man in the hoodie shook hands outside the car, then Franklin climbed in the car and sat next to Frazier. He told Williams to stop at 7th Avenue and Clark Road, said, “This is the procedure,” then shot both men in the head, the probable cause affidavit states.
Investigators believe the victims had argued previously with Franklin about a burglary where a shotgun was taken, court records state.
Franklin ran from the scene and a friend drove the two men to the hospital. Both men died at the Methodist Hospitals Southlake campus on Jan. 15.
Franklin was charged with a September 2010 armed robbery of a 20-year-old Gary man who was riding his bike to a store on W. 5th Avenue and saw Franklin and another man. When the victim returned home, he was confronted by Franklin and another man. The robbers took his belongings and fled.
