Gary Jaden Shanklin, 23, known to family as Ched, was a father and described by relatives as joyful, friendly and hardworking. He was with his friend Montelle DeMarco Lang in the pre-dawn hours of May 18, 2025, at an apartment in the Renaissance Towers on the 500 block of Michigan Street in Hammond, Indiana, when a violent confrontation erupted.

When the woman refused them entry the men removed a screen and climbed through a living room window. An argument followed; as the woman led Smothers outside and told Gary and Montelle to leave through the front door, shots were fired. Police found Gary and Montelle shot to death in a stairwell; autopsies confirmed multiple gunshot wounds and ruled both deaths homicides. Ballistics indicated two different guns were used.

Investigators identified Smothers, Clark and Harmon as the intruders. Smothers was charged in early June 2025 with two counts of murder, three counts of burglary and one count of domestic battery; Clark and Harmon were also charged. In March 2026, Marvin Clark was tried separately, convicted on multiple murder and burglary counts, and in April 2026 received a 130-year prison sentence. Does anyone have information about Gary’s final hours or contacts that morning?