Maxie D. Rallings Jr., 52, died March 26, 2023, in Gary, Indiana, after a night that began with a burning vehicle and was later reclassified as a homicide. Responders found a black Jeep Cherokee on fire on the 3100 block of Chase Street just after midnight; two people inside were dead. Initial reports treated the scene as a crash that sparked the blaze, but investigators and the coroner later determined both victims had been shot multiple times.

Rallings, known as Smokey, was born February 6, 1971, in Chicago. He attended Chicago public schools and earned a bachelor’s degree from Ball State University in communication history and child psychology. An obituary described him as loving and caring; he enjoyed barbecuing and is survived by his children, father, siblings, extended family, and a significant other.

The Gary Police Department and the Lake County Prosecutor’s Homicide Task Force were working the case and set up a tip text line. No arrests or public identifications of a suspect have been announced. If anyone knew Maxie Rallings or has information about what happened that night on Chase Street, please come forward with tips.