ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) – They had been drinking, smoking and playing cards in a woman’s garage most of the night, with everyone getting along and having a good time, witnesses would later tell Allen County Sheriff’s investigators.
That’s what made what happened next so unexpected, witnesses said.
A man stood up, took a glance at a television, and calmly pulled a gun out of the waistband of his pants before shooting 29-year-old Timothy Leroy Coats in the head, according to newly released Allen Superior Court documents.
That man, identified as 29-year-old Jerico Simmons, is now facing a preliminary charge of murder in connection with the shooting, which happened Feb. 27 in the 13700 block of Ledgstone Place.
Sheriff’s officers were called to the home, located off Illinois Road west of West Hamilton Road in western Allen County, during the early morning hours and found Coats suffering from a gunshot wound to his head.
He was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and pronounced brain dead the following day. Taken off life support last week, Coats died and the Allen County Coroner ruled his death a homicide.
A woman who said she lived at the home described in court documents how calmly Simmons got up from the table while playing cards and shot Coats. Nobody in court documents gave a possible motive for the shooting.
Investigators caught up with Simmons hours after the shooting in Grant County, where he had been involved in an accident on Interstate 69 near the 263-mile marker by Marion. Medics took Simmons from the crash to a hospital to be treated for injuries, court documents said, while investigators deployed K-9 units at the crash.
About 20 to 30 feet away from the crash site, one of the K-9 units helped officers find a semi-automatic pistol, court documents said.
A witness told investigators he, another man, Simmons and Coats had been playing High Card while smoking marijuana and drinking and that everyone seemed fine. This witness said in court documents he left the garage for a second and heard a gunshot.
He then raced around the garage and saw Simmons, who had gone to the home with, in a car that was running. The witness said he hopped into the car and Simmons sped off – striking a parked car in the process – and then headed south on Interstate 69.
Shortly thereafter, he crashed.
The witness at first did not want to talk about what happened in fear of retribution, but he ultimately said Simmons shot Coats, court documents said.
Simmons is being held in Allen County Jail without bond.
