Jaron Johnson, Witness Kidnapping and Shooting, Indiana 2019

Three Gary, Indiana residents — Jaron Johnson, 22, Jarod Johnson, 20, and Patricia Carrington, 46 — were named in a federal criminal complaint charging them with the violent kidnapping of a woman targeted for information about her sister, a key state court witness. The assault, which occurred April 14, 2019, escalated into a near-fatal shooting after the victim was abducted at gunpoint, bound with duct tape, and beaten.

According to the complaint, the victim was forced into a vehicle and driven to an abandoned house in Gary, where she was shot multiple times and left for dead. Despite her injuries, she managed to crawl from the scene and alert authorities, launching a federal investigation that uncovered damning digital evidence. Data pulled from Jarod Johnson’s active ankle monitor placed him at the crime scene during the time of the attack, linking him directly to the abduction and assault.

Investigators later recovered shell casings, a substance consistent with blood, and a piece of duct tape at the site — physical evidence that corroborated the victim’s account. The motive, prosecutors allege, was to prevent the victim’s sister from testifying the following day in a Lake County state court case against Jarod Johnson, who is already facing charges of attempted murder in connection with an attack on the sister and her boyfriend.

U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch II made no concessions, stating, “Intimidation of witnesses, whether in state court cases or federal court cases, is completely intolerable. My office will not hesitate to devote federal resources to bring individuals who engage in this lawless behavior to justice.” The indictment marks a rare but strategic federal escalation in a case rooted in local violence, aiming to bypass potential loopholes in state prosecution.

Lake County Prosecuting Attorney Bernard A. Carter praised the joint effort, calling the partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office “a united front” in combating violent crime. “Filing criminal charges in the federal system is the best manner to pursue this case,” Carter said, thanking Kirsch’s office for their “invaluable” support. The collaboration underscores a growing trend of leveraging federal statutes to target witness tampering and gang-related retaliation.

The case is being handled by the FBI’s Gang Response Investigative Team, with support from the Gary Police Department and Lake County Prosecutor’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Mahoney and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Toth are leading the prosecution. The United States Attorney’s Office stresses that the complaint is an allegation; all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. If convicted, sentencing will be determined by the judge, guided by federal statutes and sentencing guidelines.