Witness to shooting shares his story | Police/Fire

About 8 p.m. Aug. 1, when the detective got to the parking lot at Astoria apartments on East Paulding Road, Lamont Carpenter Jr. was already en route to the hospital.

He had been shot in the neck, the detective learned, and later, he found out that Carpenter, about 19 or 20, was on a ventilator and underwent emergency surgery, according to court documents.

The doctors at Lutheran Hospital saved his life.

Tremaine Deantre Wyatt, 22, of the 7600 block of Bradbury Drive, who is accused of being the shooter, was charged Friday with robbery resulting in serious bodily injury and aggravated battery that causes serious permanent disfigurement.

Wyatt is at the Allen County Jail facing a $35,000 bond and has no bond for other charges incurred in 2016. He was identified by two witnesses, court documents said.

The detective didn't know who shot Carpenter, but there was a car at the crime scene that belonged to one witness, a 21-year-old man who wishes to remain anonymous, who lives close by and was meeting Carpenter to buy some marijuana.

The 21-year-old stated that when Carpenter and Wyatt started to fight over Wyatt's gun, he quickly got out of the driver's seat and ran. As he fled, his cellphone dropped out of his pocket and was found by police.

At the time of the shooting, the 21-year-old knew Wyatt only by his street name, “lil skrill” but knew Carpenter through football.

On the night of the shooting, Wyatt joined him in the front passenger seat, the 21-year-old said, while he was waiting for Carpenter. When Carpenter got into the back seat to complete the drug deal, Wyatt started to act weird and said he was hot.

Wyatt jumped out of the front passenger seat and opened the rear passenger door, pointing a handgun at Carpenter yelling “give me the money!” according to the 21-year-old and court documents.

The 21-year-old got out of the car and started to run as Wyatt and Carpenter fought over the gun.

He heard a gunshot and turned to see Wyatt shooting Carpenter, who staggered out of the car and collapsed on the ground.

Police quickly contacted the 21-year-old because they had his car and his cellphone. At first, the 21-year-old gave police a description that didn't match Wyatt because he was afraid of retaliation, he said.

On Aug. 3, he told the truth. Barely 24 hours after the shooting, the 21-year-old's house was shot up, according to court documents and corroborated by the man.

“My mom was sitting with my nephew in her bedroom. Bullets were flying over her head. Bullets went through the back of the house into the front, into the entire house,” he said.

The 21-year-old is close to his mother, he said, and took off a year from playing basketball at a college in a northern Midwestern state to come home and work to help out with the bills. There had been a couple of deaths in the family, one a murder in Indianapolis.

He heard the shooters might be Carpenter's people. Carpenter couldn't speak at the hospital but was able to write, he heard, and Carpenter wrote down that 21-year-old “had set him up.”

While the 21-year-old said the detective was understanding at first, he seemed to doubt the man's story later.

“I'm telling them like, 25 minutes before this happened, I was completely unaware. I was pretty much in the crossfire,” he said.

At first, the detective said he'd get his phone and car back in a day or two.

Then he was told the police didn't have his phone and when he got to Parker Towing where his car was impounded, the detective wouldn't cooperate with him so he could get it out, he said.

“The people at Parker were really nice,” the man said. “They allowed me to go in and get my things out of my vehicle.” But he was told there is a proper way to get the car back.

Last time he was there was Aug. 11 and the bill was $260. Parker Towing said every car is different, but a 20-year-old sedan like his would likely cost $106 for the towing and $18 for each day the car stays at the impound lot at 2416 Cass St.

Without a car and without a phone, he had to quit his job as a supervisor at a home health care service, even though he had already given two weeks' notice because he was leaving for college.

He was without a phone for a week and a half, because he thought he'd get it back. It cost him $500 to replace it, he said.

Meanwhile, the family lives in fear.

Just after the shooting, the 21-year-old asked himself “What just happened? Why did it happen? Why was I around the situation? There were a lot of things going on in my mind that I didn't really know how to explain.”

He's back in the upper Midwest now, ready to start another year of college and another year of college basketball.

His father says he'll spring the car from the impound lot.

When he comes back for the holidays, the 21-year-old said he'll be careful.

“I'll looking over my shoulder wherever I go,” he said. “I don't know who's looking for me. I really don't feel like the detective is doing anything to protect me.

“I feel like I lost the most in this situation.”

jduffy@jg.net