Shawn Rhyon Pewitt, a 39-year-old ironworker and father, was shot and killed on September 8, 2021, inside an apartment in the 2500 block of Connecticut Street in Gary, Indiana. He had gone to the apartment of 54-year-old Antonio West to retrieve his girlfriend when an altercation between the two men ended with Pewitt shot once in the chest. Pewitt was taken to Methodist Hospital Northlake and pronounced dead.

The Lake County Metro Homicide Unit and the Gary Police Department identified West as the suspect. Detectives located him in a vehicle near 15th Avenue on September 21, 2021, and took him into custody without incident. West was charged with murder and a firearm enhancement; at trial the prosecution said West had been supplying drugs to Pewitt’s girlfriend and had coerced her into sexual acts as payment, while the defense disputed aspects of the evidence. A jury found West guilty and he received a lengthy prison sentence.

If anyone knew Pewitt, West, or the circumstances at that Connecticut Street apartment, please share what you remember.