Police in Indiana have arrested five people in connection to the shooting of an Indiana judge and his wife at their home on Sunday.
Three men and two women from Indiana and Kentucky were taken into custody by members of the Lafayette Police Department after an extensive, multi-agency investigation, police said in a news release Thursday.
Tippecanoe County Superior Court Judge Steven Meyer and his wife, Kimberly Meyer, were shot at their home in Lafayette, about 60 miles northwest of Indianapolis, around 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Judge Meyer, who had recently announced that he would retire at the end of the year, suffered an injury to his arm, police said. His wife was wounded in her hip.
In a late Thursday statement, Lafayette police announced the arrest of 38-year-old Raylen Ferguson and 61-year-old Zenada Greer, both of Lexington, Ky., and 43-year-old Thomas Moss, 32-year-old Blake Smith, and 45-year-old Amanda Mislap, all of Lafayette, Ind.
All three men were charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated battery and related crimes.
Mislap was arrested on charges of bribery and obstruction of justice, while Greer was charged with assisting a criminal and obstruction of justice.
On Friday, prosecutors said the shooting was a coordinated effort by members of Phantom MC, a Detroit-based motorcycle club, and the Vice Lords street gang, to derail a domestic abuse trial.
Moss — described in probable cause affidavits unsealed Friday as a senior member of Phantom MC — was scheduled to go on trial Tuesday after being charged with beating his ex-girlfriend in 2024. Meyer had been assigned to preside over the case.
Days before the shooting, Greer and Ferguson, a member of the Almighty Vice Lord Nation, traveled to Lafayette from Lexington, according to police.
On Sunday, Ferguson knocked on Meyer’s door, saying he was looking for his dog, then shot at the judge through the door, according to police records.
Home surveillance video caught Ferguson wearing and a mask and carrying a shotgun, investigators said. They later determined the gun had been purchased by fellow Phantom MC member Blake Smith, while DNA on the mask, discarded near the home, was matched to that of Ferguson.
The Meyers continue to recover from their injuries.
In a webinar on Friday, Indiana Chief Justice Loretta Rush said she was grateful the Meyers are alive, while urging other judges to “remain vigilant” in their own security.
“I worry about the safety of all our judges. Any violence against a judge or a judge’s family is completely unacceptable,” Rush said.
With News Wire Services
