14-year-old charged in fatal shooting of Indiana University graduate

INDIANAPOLIS − Indianapolis prosecutors announced that a 14-year-old boy has been charged in the fatal shooting of an Indiana University graduate in a politicized homicide case consuming the state’s capital.

The teen suspect is accused of killing Brett Scrogham, a 23-year-old recent graduate of Indiana University Kelley School of Business, in late May in a downtown Indianapolis parking garage. The boy faces charges of felony murder, attempted robbery resulting in serious bodily injury and dangerous possession of a firearm, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced June 5.

Officials have not released the 14-year-old boy’s identity, though they said he had no criminal history. Mears said his office has filed a petition to move the teen’s case, currently in juvenile court, to adult court.

The case has drawn scrutiny from Indiana to Washington, DC, as elected officials and local law enforcement grapple with the teen’s age, youth access to firearms, and how local prosecutors are addressing crime.

Mears, a Democrat, has drawn scrutiny from Republicans in the GOP-leaning state over his handling of prosecutions in the state’s predominantly Democratic capital city.

On the Senate floor of the U.S. Capitol, Sen. Jim Banks, R-Indiana, on June 1 said Scrogham’s shooting was indicative of a “crisis” with what he called “soft-on-crime policies.”

On June 5, Mears said “a lot of people” are “very willing to assign blame” before knowing all the facts.

On May 28, Scrogham was shot while in a vehicle inside a downtown Indianapolis parking garage near the Indiana Convention Center, police said. Scrogham died two days later of a gunshot wound to the head. 

On June 3, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police homicide detectives arrested the teen suspect on the city’s west side.

“While today’s arrest is significant, my heart breaks for everyone impacted by this tragedy,” Police Chief Tanya Terry said in a June 3 statement. “A young man lost his life, and another now faces allegations that will change his life forever.”

On June 5, Terry told reporters that the case wasn’t indicative of typical activity in downtown Indianapolis, with crimes in the area accounting for less than 7% of total crimes citywide. 

With homicides, the figures appear even less pronounced in downtown. The most recent official data, from 2024, shows that five of the city’s 173 homicides that year happened downtown, or less than 3% of all homicides. In 2023, the number of homicides downtown was just over 1%, or two out of 169 citywide homicides.

Since the start of 2026, there have been 57 homicides across the city, with three of them downtown, or about 5% of all homicides, according to a homicide tracker by IndyStar, part of the USA TODAY Network, drawing from Indianapolis police data.

Still, GOP lawmakers have focused on Indianapolis, saying that the city, particularly its downtown, needs state intervention to address rising violence. One bill in the Republican-controlled state General Assembly’s last session would have created a special district within downtown where a special prosecutor, appointed by the governor, could prosecute crimes. The bill failed.

In 2025, Gov. Mike Braun, a Republican, said he was open to the state intervening in the capital after gun violence during the July 4 weekend left five dead, including two youths.

Terry said parents need to be more involved in their children’s lives to prevent them from getting involved in violence.

“Do something with your kid,” she told reporters. “Don’t let them run off and do stuff like this.”

Contributing: Kayla Dwyer, IndyStar

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Teen charged in fatal shooting of Indiana graduate in politicized case