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FORT WAYNE — Allen County prosecutors hope to combine the cases of the two men accused of shooting up an ambulance – allowing the cases to be tried at the same time.
In a motion filed this week in Allen Superior Court, prosecutors argued that the cases should be handled together for a number of reasons, including “judicial economy.”
Last month, Traneilous L. Jackson, 24, and Dontay D. Martin, 23, were charged with identical charges within days of each other – four counts of attempted murder, two counts of criminal recklessness, one count of carrying a handgun without a license with a prior conviction, one count of criminal gang activity and one count of battery.
Among other crimes, the two men are accused of firing dozens of shots into an ambulance as it transported a man wounded in a stabbing at a north-side nightclub.
The episode began at Piere’s complex at 5629 St. Joe Road in the early morning of Sept.8. When paramedics and firefighters arrived, they found Jermaine Loyall in serious condition; medics put him in an ambulance and headed to the hospital.
As they left, they were followed by a black Chevrolet Impala containing two of Loyall’s sisters – Domonic Loyall and Latasha Loyall – and a friend, Lashanda Conwell.
A Crown Victoria driven by Alfonso Chappell, 27, with Jackson in the front passenger seat and Martin in the rear passenger seat came up on the Impala and the ambulance from behind, court records said. Another man was in the rear driver’s side seat.
At 3:15 a.m., dispatchers received a call from the ambulance requesting emergency assistance, saying they were being shot at. About the same time, one of the women in the Impala called police, saying they had been shot at and she and her friend had been hurt.
Court documents state that both the ambulance and the Impala were hit by 16 to 20 bullets.
A few minutes later, Allen County police officers both on and off duty were able to chase the Crown Victoria and stop it in downtown Fort Wayne. Martin and the other man in the car jumped out and ran but were soon caught by police. The handgun connected to Martin was found in the area of the chase, according to court documents.
Paramedic Jeromy Yadon was struck with bullet fragments, glass and shrapnel, suffering injuries to his left arm and fragments. The two other emergency workers in the ambulance were uninjured, according to court documents.
Latasha Loyall suffered 10 gunshot wounds in various places on her body, and Domonic Loyall was shot once in the forearm, according to court documents.
According to the prosecutors’ motion, neither Martin nor Jackson has made a statement to law enforcement about what happened that morning.
Indiana law allows two or more defendants to be joined in a single case for a number of reasons, including being charged with the same offenses or if the offenses committed were so “closely connected in respect to time, place, and occasion that it would be difficult to separate proof of one charge from proof of the others,” according to court documents.
Another hearing on the matter is set for later this month.
