Anthony Johnson

Anthony Johnson II was a 35-year-old Black man who, according to his wife Gwendolyn, "just loved life and loved people." She was impressed when she first met him at a church function, where he was working with the youth program. They married in July 2019, and she remembered him as a good person who never met a stranger and wanted everyone to be happy. His life was cut short when he was caught in the crossfire of a domestic dispute while visiting family.

On the night of Saturday, March 13, 2021, Anthony was at a home on North Randolph Street on the east side of Indianapolis. An argument broke out between 25-year-old Malik Halfacre and his girlfriend, who was Anthony’s cousin. Halfacre was demanding half of her stimulus check. When her brother, Dequan Moore, stepped in to defend her, Halfacre pulled out a handgun and began shooting. Anthony, an innocent bystander, was shot and killed along with three members of his cousin's family: 44-year-old Tomeeka Brown, 23-year-old Dequan Moore, and 7-year-old Eve Moore. Halfacre’s girlfriend was also shot and critically injured but survived.

After the shooting, Halfacre fled the scene, taking his and his girlfriend’s 6-month-old daughter with him and triggering an Amber Alert. The baby was found safe the following morning. That afternoon, a police tip led officers to a house on Eastridge Drive, where Halfacre was hiding in the attic. After a standoff that lasted several hours, an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department SWAT team took him into custody.

The Marion County Prosecutor's Office charged Malik Halfacre with four counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, armed robbery, auto theft, and carrying a handgun with a prior felony conviction. According to court documents, Halfacre admitted to police that he shot everyone in the home after arguing about the stimulus money. In 2024, Halfacre pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. A judge sentenced him to 145 years in prison, bringing the case to a close in 2024.