An Indiana man is accused of chasing down a man in a car before shooting him multiple times and then bragging about it on social media.
Newly released court documents now point to his motive:
He was after the man he believed killed his mother.
Fort Wayne Police arrested 21-year-old Ahmad K. Pearson on Monday in connection to the 2021 killing of 40-year-old Travis Jones, who officers found slumped over in a car that had crashed into a parked vehicle on South Monroe Street this past August.
In that incident, emergency crews pulled Jones from the car and tried to save him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds.
Homicide suspect in 2021 killing arrested
As the investigation developed, detectives zeroed in on Pearson as the primary suspect.
One witness had video of Pearson in a car chasing down Jones’ car, according to Allen Superior Court documents. Also, a Snapchat video made right around the time of the killing showed Pearson proclaiming he was “smoking on a Pac Man.”
“Pac Man” was reportedly Jones’ street name, court documents said.
Detectives noted in court documents that 44-year-old Twilah Newmon-Thomas, who was found dead in a vehicle outside the Hickory Mill Apartment complex in 2020, was Pearson’s mother.
A suspect in that killing matched the description of Jones, according to court documents.
In talking to other witnesses, detectives were led to an apartment complex of people who may have known or had contact with Pearson directly after the killing. During a search of one of the apartments, police found a .45-caliber Glock handgun.
One of the witnesses at the apartment told police a man who went by “AP” left gun there. That witness identified Pearson as that man when shown a photo of him, according to court documents.
Ballistic tests done by the Indiana State Police showed shell casings found at the scene showed matched the gun, meaning it was the weapon used to kill Jones, court documents said. Pearson’s DNA was also found on the gun, according to the court documents.
This past September, Pearson was arrested on a separate matter.
Woman found sDuring an interview with detectives, he denied any involvement with the killing and said he was at a friend’s apartment the entire night. He bonded out of jail on that unrelated charge while police continued the investigation into Jones’ killing.
Part of that investigation involved obtaining data from Pearson’s cell phone carrier. Upon analyzing that data, detectives were able to show that Pearson’s cell phone was in the area of Monroe Street two minutes before Jones’ killing.
That phone remained there for a period of time after the shooting, before moving away from the scene.
What’s more, court documents said, it showed it was impossible for Pearson to have been at his friend’s apartment the entire night.
Police arrested Pearson on Monday near the intersection of Hobson Road and East State Boulevard.
He is being held without bond in Allen County Jail.
Pearson also has a trial scheduled for next month where he is facing three counts of battery committed by means of a deadly weapon and criminal recklessness by shooting a firearm into a home.
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