Terryante Flournoy, Pizza Delivery Driver Murder, IN 2023

A Gary man shot dead a pizza delivery driver during a planned armed robbery gone wrong, then fled an abandoned house with nothing but blood on his hands. Terryante Flournoy, 23, of Gary, Indiana, was sentenced to 420 months — 35 years — in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Philip P. Simon after pleading guilty to charges stemming from the November 24, 2019, murder.

Flournoy admitted to attempted robbery affecting commerce and conspiracy to commit robbery affecting commerce under the Hobbs Act, a federal statute used to prosecute violent crimes that interfere with interstate commerce. During the ambush, Flournoy fired a single round from an AR-15–style rifle at the driver, killing him instantly. The victim, delivering a pizza to an abandoned house as part of the ruse, never saw the bullet coming.

In addition to the murder-linked robbery charges, Flournoy pled guilty to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. At the time of the shooting, he already had prior felony convictions for theft and battery by bodily waste — a violent offense that underscored a criminal pattern prosecutors said warranted maximum punishment.

The robbery plot was simple and cold: Flournoy and a co-defendant ordered a pizza to be delivered to a derelict home in Gary. When the driver arrived, they approached his vehicle with weapons drawn. The plan collapsed in seconds when the shot rang out. No money, no food — just a dead civilian and a crime scene soaked in failure and violence.

Investigators from the FBI’s Gang Response Investigative Team, the Gary Police Department, and the Lake County Metropolitan Homicide Unit worked the case from the first 911 call. With forensic evidence and witness accounts, they pieced together the ambush and tied the rifle to Flournoy. The Lake County Prosecutor’s Office provided critical support, helping build a federal case strong enough to secure a guilty plea.

The prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David J. Nozick and Caitlin M. Padula under the umbrella of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the Department of Justice’s violent crime crackdown initiative. PSN targets repeat and armed offenders through coordinated federal, state, and local enforcement. For Terryante Flournoy, that meant a sentence that matches the brutality of his crime: 35 years behind bars, followed by two years of supervised release — a life defined now by a single, fatal decision.

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