Update (04/09/2024): Grant County Prosecutor Scott Hunt has confirmed that 13-year-old Zaiden Guy has been charged as an adult for his alleged role in shooting death of 24-year-old Byron Dennis Jr.
Guy faces six felony charges, including murder, robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, unlawful carrying of a handgun, theft and criminal recklessness.
MARION, Ind. — Police In Marion arrested a 13-year-old on murder and robbery charges following a deadly shooting at a convenience store.
According to the Marion Police Department, dispatchers received a 911 call at 7:52 p.m. Monday after a person was shot at the Circle K located at 901 E. Bradford St. in Marion.
When officers arrived, they found a man lying in the front door shot in the chest.
24-year-old Byron Dennis Jr. died after being rushed to the hospital.
“It’s tough. It’s really tough,” said the victim’s sister Jazmin Dennis. “It’s just unfortunate. He had so much life in him.”
Jazmin Dennis said her brother was into personal fitness training and loved to make music under the name the Hartbreak Kidd.
In addition to his art, Byron Dennis Jr. always looked after his older siblings.
“He was like a protector. Even though he was a younger brother, he protected me through a lot,” said Jazmin Dennis.“Anyone that interacted with Byron, they loved him.”
While police wouldn’t confirm many details about what happened at the gas station, the victim’s family claims Byron Dennis stopped at the store to buy some items when a teenage suspect approached him from behind and tried to rob him. During that robbery, Jazmin Dennis said the suspect grabbed the victim’s gun and shot Byron his own weapon.
“The kid reached in his pocket and pulled out the gun and the bullet went through his chest and through his back,” said Jazmin Dennis.
Because the suspect was seen on surveillance video, police quickly tracked the 13-year-old down to a nearby home.
Marion police, the Grant County Sheriff’s Department and the JEAN Team Drug Task Force determined the suspect was at a home on East Highland Avenue.
At that time, the suspect was taken into custody for preliminary charges of robbery and murder.
While the accused killer is a juvenile, the victim’s family hopes he’s held accountable for his actions.
“You’re just a baby, but you made a really bad decision at a really young age,” said Jazmin Dennis.
As for where the suspect will go to court, the prosecutor confirms they will petition a judge in Grant County to hold a hearing about waiving the suspect from juvenile to adult court, but the process is not automatic.
Under Indiana law, only 16 and 17-year-old juveniles charged with murder are automatically waived to adult court.
“I know he’s only 13. He threw his whole life away, but he took a life from us.He took an important life from us and I don’t want a slap on the wrist for him,” said Jazmin Dennis.
After being taken into custody, the juvenile suspect was transported to another county to be detained pending the filing of formal charges.
The family set up a GoFundMe to help with burial expenses. Click here for more information.
In a Facebook post published Tuesday night, Marion Police Chief David M. Gilbert sent a message to the community in response to Monday’s shooting.
Officers with the Marion Police Department, with the assistance of deputies with the Grant County Sheriff’s Department, arrested a 13-year old young man last night after he shot and killed a man named Byron Dennis at a local convenience store. 13-years old. For now, details of the case must remain somewhat guarded as the investigation is on-going, but what I can confirm is that it was absolutely senseless. It’s tragic for Mr. Dennis and his family and, quite frankly, for a kid who somehow lost or was never taught how precious life is supposed to be. Mr. Dennis is the primary victim to be sure and our sympathies go out to his family. But the unspoken victim is our community– the employees who were working at the store simply trying to earn a living; the mother and young daughter who bought a co*ke and chips there just before; the residents of the neighborhood just across the street and the kids who go to the elementary school a few hundred yards away. If you live or work in Marion, you are a victim of this type of selfish behavior and you should be angry about it. I am.
So, what do we do about it?
In the last several years there have been those in government and outside it who advocated for or allowed a substantial reduction in manpower at your police department to levels not seen in decades. There has been and is a real cost to reducing staffing levels of the police force from 70 or so officers to the less than 50 certified officers working at MPD right now. Money was saved but at what cost? To be fair, no community is immune from crime, including violent crime. It’s the human condition that some people will hurt other people. What matters though, is the level at which a community is willing to accept it. Do we accept crime like this as something we’re helpless to do anything about or do we assume the responsibility to do everything we can to make ourselves and those we care about as safe as possible in the real world? Well, I can tell you that the officers of the Marion Police Department are not willing to accept that unchecked crime and violence is our fate, no matter how many of us are serving.
Words like I’m writing now aren’t what will matter. What will matter is the collective decision as a community that we have to work together to support, encourage and fund an effective police initiative that is assertive and proactive and not just reactive. Career criminals have to know that Marion is not a welcoming place for them! A critical component of that ideal is to have enough quality, professional police officers working to send that message consistently. And we must back up those officers who volunteer to serve on the front line on your behalf as they stand up to the chronic, career violent criminals who think nothing of hurting others as a way of life, as if it’s their right. It’s not.
It will never be known if this particular crime could have been prevented, even under the best of circ*mstances. But what my 37 years of experience tells me is that we can do better than we’ve been doing in the last few years. On behalf of the officers of the Marion Police Department, I can pledge to good citizens that the professionals who work for you are outstanding, talented, committed men and women who courageously do their best to make you safe every day and they appreciate the support of good people; we just need more of these heroes. To the family of Mr. Dennis, our condolences. And to the lifelong violent criminals among us, you are not welcome here and our police department will do everything legally and within our authority to make you see that.
And finally, if you are a young person looking to serve something more important than yourself, contact us to see if you have what it takes. You won’t regret it.
David M. Gilbert, Marion Police Chief
