Jarcques Gaston, 23, was fatally shot on January 19, 2022, inside a bi-level home on the 7800 block of Hendricks Street in Merrillville, Indiana. Police found him lying face down on the inside steps; shell casings were recovered on the landing and at the top of the stairs, and witnesses reported hearing several loud booms consistent with multiple shots.

Investigators identified 17-year-old Ryan J. Rose as a suspect. Rose and Gaston had been friends years earlier but their relationship had deteriorated. According to an affidavit, Rose said Gaston had sent him threatening texts about a week before the shooting and that on the day of the incident he believed Gaston was armed and reached for something, prompting him to shoot. Rose was formally charged with murder in July 2022, but prosecutors later withdrew the charge after evidence presented at Rose’s bail hearing led them to conclude they could not disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt.

Gaston was remembered by family and friends as joyful, strong-minded and loving; a 2016 graduate of the Hoosier Youth Challenge Academy, he was a husband and father to five children. If anyone knew Jarcques or has information about what happened that night, please share what is known.