Gary man guilty in apartment slaying

A Gary man was convicted late Friday of killing a woman and wounding her fiancé at the Willows apartments.

Jurors found Thomas Starks, 22, guilty of murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and burglary. He lived upstairs from the couple.

His sentencing is set for Nov. 19.

Gary Police were called Aug. 8, 2023, around 11 p.m. to the Willows apartments on the 300 block of Clark Road for a shots-fired call.

Wilson, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her death was ruled a homicide.

Her fiance told officers they were returning from Buffalo Wild Wings when a gunman ambushed them from above.

The man added he and Wilson both carried guns inside — an AR pistol and Glock 22, respectively — because they had been having problems with their upstairs neighbors.

Days earlier, Starks and his sister Leticia Starks, who was not charged in the shooting, were caught on camera burglarizing the victims’ apartment.

In testimony this week, she declined to say her brother was the person with her stealing from the other apartment. She pleaded the 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination on cross-examination, before prosecutors later granted her immunity to finish her testimony.

A July 25, 2023, police report noted the victims’ door handle was broken as if the burglars forced their way inside. Items including an iPad, iPhone and Nike gym shoes were missing.

The apartment video appeared to show a man and woman with orange hair rummaging through the unit. The man had a face mask, Nike sweatshirt, and dark pants. He was holding a gun with a purple glove on with his left hand.

The building’s outside camera didn’t pick them up coming inside the building, leaving police to believe they lived there.

On the night of the shooting, the apartment building’s cameras captured the victims going inside, armed with two guns. Then, the female victim’s “silhouette” falls down, hitting the front door’s glass.

The alleged shooter — also wearing a glove and holding the gun in his left hand — flees toward the back of the building.

No one appeared to come inside the building for at least two hours before the shooting.

mcolias@post-trib.com