Man convicted in Merrillville hotel slaying

A man was convicted of murder and a gun enhancement Friday in a Merrillville hotel slaying.

Barry “Blue” Billingsley, 45, of Merrillville, was charged in the Oct. 2, 2021, shooting death of Anthony Gibbs, 36, of Highland.

Jurors deliberated for about three hours. Billingsley did not testify. Jurors were also given a reckless homicide option to pick as an alternative to murder.

In closing arguments, Deputy Prosecutor Maureen Koonce said several pieces of evidence put Billingsley there and strongly implied he shot Gibbs.

Gibbs was shot in the face and leg. Police collected 10 casings.

When Billingsley was arrested in a traffic stop a few days later with his girlfriend, cops found a Muppets Animal ball cap and jean jacket he appeared to wear on camera around the time of the shooting.

Koonce acknowledged they didn’t know the motive. There was no sound to the hotel videos.

Billingsley told his girlfriend he wanted a shootout with the cops, Koonce said. He refused to voluntarily provide DNA, He was hiding a gun when they were pulled over.

He also was caught later on a jail phone call — using another inmate’s account — asking another man to intimidate witnesses, including the girlfriend and “make sure they don’t show up.”

Defense lawyer Casey McCloskey, representing Billingsley with lawyer Sonya Scott-Dix, emphasized the hotel videos had no sound.

Before the shooting, cameras caught Gibbs’ girlfriend talking to a friend in a vehicle. Suddenly, a different woman — Billingley’s friend’s girlfriend — went up to the vehicle and started attacking Gibbs’ girlfriend’s friend who was sitting in the driver’s seat.

Gibbs and the dog, as well as Billingsley and his friend, moved into the video’s frame. Court records suggested the spat between the two women started a situation that escalated to the shooting.

None of these people — who would have known what was said — were called to testify, McCloskey said, only Billingsley’s girlfriend.

Prosecutors were in the position to pick and choose what the jury heard, he said.

“They would rather have a silent witness,” McCloskey said. “They want you to assume there was an argument (between the men).”

DNA was on the gun handle, not the trigger. They didn’t know how long it was there, or how long the gun residue was on the jean jacket, he said.

Deputy Prosecutor Judy Massa countered that “words were not enough” to justify the shooting and that the evidence was “overwhelming.”

When police were called Oct. 2, 2021 to the Economy Inn, 8275 Louisiana St. in Merrillville, and found Gibbs “unresponsive” around 6 p.m. on the sidewalk outside, shot in the face and leg, according to court documents.

Gibbs’ girlfriend tried to rent a room that day, but couldn’t because she only had a photo of her identification. Gibbs was on a “do not rent list,” according to court documents.

About an hour before the shooting, they were at a different motel, where she saw an acquaintance and asked for a ride to a Super 8 to get some things and bring it back.

“Hold on,” the woman said before pulling into a spot in front of a room. Inside, Billingsley told another man to get Gibbs to leave, who was sitting on a chair outside the room.

“Oh, no, no, no, back up, I’m not helping y’all,” Billingsley’s friend said.

Just then, two police officers drove by. Billingsley told them to move along “unless they were buying something,” court records said.

The couple went to Economy Inn, where the woman failed to get a room without her ID. The woman saw a friend of hers and went up to chat with her in the SUV, court documents said.

Billingsley appeared from a room, with a gun in his pocket, then stepped outside, getting into an argument with Gibbs, according to the affidavit.

“Didn’t I tell you not to come around here,” Billingsley said.

“All right dude, I’m leaving,” Gibbs said, appearing to back away, documents said.

As Gibbs leaned down to grab his bags, his girlfriend heard gunshots and felt her foot “burning” and her dog was yelping from getting shot, court documents said.

She didn’t realize Gibbs had been shot until she saw him on the ground.

mcolias@post-trib.com