On a February morning in 2019 in South Bend, Indiana, 21-year-old Ruben James Water, a Native American man, was killed inside his car after a struggle with two acquaintances, Juan Rojas and Charles Douglas. The three had been driving together and parked in Douglas’s driveway to smoke marijuana when both men, reportedly armed with handguns, opened fire. Douglas, seated in the back, fired one shot into the back of Water’s head; Rojas, in the passenger seat, shot Water twice in the head and neck. Water was found slumped over in the driver’s seat and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Rojas and Douglas fled into Douglas’s house and attempted to hide the firearms in a closet ceiling. A neighbor discovered the body and called police. Investigators recovered the guns from Douglas’s home; ballistics linked them to the shots that killed Water. Rojas was convicted in March 2020 and sentenced to 55 years. Douglas’s first trial in October 2021 ended in a hung jury; he was later convicted and also received a 55-year sentence. An appeal by Douglas argued the jury should have been allowed to consider reckless homicide but the murder conviction was affirmed.

Did anyone in South Bend know Ruben, Rojas, or Douglas and have details about what led to that February outing?