FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — There were two brothers charged in a 2021 southeast side homicide, one allegedly shot Daniel Nolan at close range with a 9mm gun as he sat sleeping in his white Mercedes, the other was allegedly the lookout.

The shooting death occurred at 5:53 a.m. on May 2 when a neighbor called 911, horrified with what he heard and saw.

Daniel Nolan, parked in front of his home at 3509 Hanna Street, was shot 16 times and died almost instantly from 21 entrance and exit wounds. The shooter fired from a few feet away with most of the bullets piercing the windshield just off the center line with one coming through the driver’s side window.

This week Torrese Bobo, 24, faced a jury for one count of murder. Allen County Prosecutors said he acted in concert with his brother, Tony Jackson, 31, who was enraged that Nolan believed he or members of his family robbed him.

Thursday, after closing arguments from Allen County Prosecutors Tom Chaille, Chief Deputy Prosecutor, Chief Counsel Tesa Helge and Bobo’s criminal defense attorney, Robert Scremin, the jury acquitted Bobo of murder. The jury deliberated for four hours before making their decision.

“On behalf of Mr. Bobo, I would like to thank the jury for their hard work and thoughtful deliberation,” said defense attorney Scremin. “I am very pleased with the jury’s verdict. Today, justice prevailed.”

Nolan, known on the streets as “Nolo,” was a man who lived largely, carrying wads of cash in his pockets and running dice games out of his basement. Bobo admitted to visiting the Nolan establishment which “looked just like a house when you walked in,” he said.

Bobo maintained through his attorney that there was never a plan to kill Nolan even if he bumped into him earlier in the morning of May 2 at Club 44 where he went with another ‘brother’ named Andrus.

Nolan went with his “homie” Brandon Pearson who on club video appeared to start something with Bobo, but possibly sparred with Andrus more. Bobo, by all accounts, was about keeping the peace. Except for one instance where he was seen smacking down Nolan’s hand during conversation.

Prosecutors told the jury that Bobo brought the argument – the insinuation that his family had robbed Nolan – back to his mother who’d also had words with Nolan at a club, according to the probable cause affidavit written by homicide detective Luke MacDonald. That morning, starting at 5:06 a.m., the events turned deadly.

Video surveillance recorded angry voices at the home of Ayunna Jackson, Bobo and Tony’s mother, and a voice believed to be Tony vowing revenge after he drives up in his Grand Prix.

“Say no more,” Tony’s voice is heard saying on street video collected by detectives, according to the prosecution. “I’m going to (expletive) him up!!! Say no more!”

Tony Jackson gets busy calling his girlfriend who lives a few houses away from his mother on Monroe Stree and only about a mile away from Nolan’s home. The girlfriend testified in court Wednesday that Jackson and a guy named “Bo” got into her vehicle. She said they drove to get weed but found Nolan asleep in his car. WANE 15 has agreed not to name because of the threats she’s received from the family and others, according to her and the prosecution.

They drive away, only to return but in a different manner. Jackson and Bo walk to the Marathon gas station across the street from Nolan’s home while Jackson gets his girlfriend to follow in her car. The prosecutors say after the shooting was done, they ran off toward the alley behind the gas station and got back in her car.

She drives home and parks in the back, and the two accomplices who “acted in concert” go back.

Video presented in court shows two shadowy figures walking down an alley toward the crime scene and leaving, but the video is too blurry to positively identify anyone. The girlfriend’s Saturn Vue, however, is visible. The timing is also suggestive of the crime, but the only sounds besides a rapid succession of gunfire are birds singing throughout the video.

In an interview with MacDonald, Bobo denied shooting Nolan and got defensive.

“I didn’t do nothing,” he said at least twice.

Scremin said the interview took place two years after the homicider and Jackson was already charged and in jail for the murder.

Throughout the trial and closing arguments, Tony Jackson’s name was uttered as often as the defendant’s. The prosecution said Bobo came along for the shooting because Jackson knew he needed a second if Nolan were to wake up and start shooting back. Nolan had a gun on his lap when his friend Pearson got him home after Club 44.

But Scremin said it would be unconscionable to convict someone when there were no eyewitnesses, no forensic evidence, no phone records of calls or texts between the two brothers to show there was a plan to kill Nolan, and no evidence that Bobo was anywhere near the crime scene after he went home to sleep after being at the strip club that closed around 3 a.m.

The only evidence came from Jackson’s girlfriend who wasn’t able to pick Bobo out of a lineup nor did she recognize him in her car as she unwittingly drove them to allegedly commit murder. But she said she heard Jackson call the passenger in the back of her Saturn Vue “Bo.” And “Bo” she understood to be Jackson’s brother.

Bobo was arrested and charged with this homicide in February. His brother, Tony, was arrested earlier and faces a jury in February.

In a recorded interview at police headquarters, MacDonald showed little patience with Bobo who sat stoically in his chair during the three-day trial, his family and friends seated only a few yards away in the gallery.

“You’re going to jail for murder,” MacDonald told him as he opened the door to leave.

“I don’t care about that,” Bobo tells him.

“That’s what your brother said,” MacDonald says back to him.

“That’s ridiculous,” Bobo replied.