‘I Did Not Know How To Stop’: Indiana Teenager Found Guilty Of Fatally Shooting His Uncle 3 Years Ago

An Indiana man who claimed he “did not know how to stop” shooting his uncle following days of fighting was convicted of murder.

After a three-day trial, a jury in Indianapolis found Sylvester Ford, 19, guilty on Feb. 2 of fatally shooting 28-year-old Devon Ford, WXIN reported.

On the morning of Feb. 16, 2020, officers in Beech Grove responding to a report of a shooting at an apartment spoke with Sylvester Ford, who was 16 at the time.

Sylvester Ford led police to Devon Ford’s apartment, where officers found the victim dead from what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds.

The defendant told detectives he was taking out the garbage to a dumpster when several people in masks pulled up in a vehicle, entered Devon Ford’s home and shot him in bed, the Indy Star reported at the time.

Court documents obtained by WXIN state instead of phoning 911, Sylvester Ford contacted family members, later telling detectives his “instinct was to call my people.”

According to police, Sylvester Ford ditched the gun, which was recovered in a dumpster outside a Burger King.

Police said the defendant had been living with his uncle and the two were arguing in the days leading up to the shooting, including over an iPad the uncle took away after he thought his nephew was spending too much time on the device.

The Indy Star reported Sylvester Ford changed details of his story several times, but he eventually claimed to detectives he wanted to know what it felt like to hold a gun, so he grabbed his uncle’s firearm from where it was laying on a refrigerator and accidentally shot him.

The teenager fired multiple shot and struck Devon Ford three times, according to police, and alleged he only “kept going because I did not know how to stop.”

The defendant, who was charged with murder as an adult, will be sentenced in early March.