On the morning of August 23, 2019, 16-year-old Nicholas Nelson and his 15-year-old sister Ashlynn were shot and killed in their Post Brook Apartment on Indianapolis’ far east side. Both siblings attended Lawrence North High School. Family members at first believed the killings grew out of a robbery or a staged cellphone sale, but the investigation soon pointed elsewhere.

A 15-year-old was arrested days later and identified as Lometreus Sanders. He told police he had been dating Ashlynn and went to the apartment to see her; he said a confrontation with Nicholas in Ashlynn’s bedroom escalated, a struggle over a gun resulted in shots, and he then shot Ashlynn and Nicholas. The Marion County Deputy Prosecutor sought to transfer the case to adult court. Sanders later admitted to the killings, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, and received a concurrent sentence of 45 years, with an expectation of 40 years in prison followed by five years of home detention. Their mother, Antonia Bailey, said she had moved past initial ill feelings toward Sanders and hoped he would change while incarcerated.

Are there readers who remember Nicholas and Ashlynn from Lawrence North or who knew them in the neighborhood and can share memories or information?