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

• Brianna Wilkins made a game-winning shot at the buzzer to give the Kentucky All-Stars a 59-57 victory.
• The Indiana All-Stars rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half to briefly take the lead.
• Ashlinn James led Kentucky with 22 points, while Brooke Zartman led Indiana with 13 points.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The play was not necessarily designed for Brianna Wilkins to take the final shot.

With 3.2 seconds left in the girls’ Indiana All-Star game against the Kentucky All-Stars on Friday night, Indiana’s Brooklynn Renn drilled two free throws to tie the score. Kentucky called timeout to advance the ball to halfcourt (a rule that is used in women’s college basketball in the final minute of the fourth quarter and overtime).

Kentucky Miss Basketball Ashlinn James, an Indiana recruit, took the ball out of bounds and fired it to teammate Brianna Wilkins in the right corner.

“The original plan was I was going to catch the ball, and Ash was going to cut and get it back,” Wilkins said. “But there was only three seconds left and I was counting down in my head.”

Indiana had James well covered. But not Wilkins. The Marshall University recruit made a move, went baseline, and drained the game-winning shot at the buzzer to give the Kentucky All-Stars a 59-57 win over the Indiana All-Stars at Lexington Catholic High School.

“It was drawn up for me to go back door,” James said. “But I think they knew that was coming. They were like, ‘Back door, back door.’ I was hoping Bri had a plan and she did her thing.”

It was as frustrating night for the Indiana All-Stars, who were blanked for more than five minutes to start the second half and trailed 52-41 with just under 6 minutes remaining. Indiana rallied with an 11-0 run and took the lead 55-54 on a 3-pointer by Warsaw’s Brooke Zartman with 1:52 left.

But a steal and layup by James gave Kentucky the lead and she added a free throw to make it 57-55. After an Indiana miss, Renn corralled a loose ball under the basket and was fouled with 3.2 seconds left, calmly hitting both free throws to tie the score.

Then, Wilkins’ drive. Ballgame.

“I was concerned,” Indiana All-Stars coach Joe Huppenthal said. “I don’t know if it was the drive or what, but we just didn’t have that giddy-up. That was concerning. Then we found out about KK (Holman) and that put us in a bad spot. I’m not making excuses but that hurt.”