On the afternoon of Tuesday, August 9, 2022, South Bend police responded to a home in the 800 block of Johnson Street and found two people dead. The male victim was identified as 24-year-old Phil Honer III; an 18-year-old, Rainie Best, was also found deceased. Autopsies ruled both deaths homicides: Honer suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head, and Best was shot in the head and back.

Investigators from the South Bend Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit identified and arrested 52-year-old Joseph Newgent of South Bend after examining one of the victim’s cellphones. Newgent told detectives he was at the Johnson Street residence on August 4, heard an argument between the two victims, and said he fired a gun intending to shoot Honer and inadvertently struck Best. The St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office charged Newgent with two counts of murder and a firearm enhancement; he was booked into the county jail.