Lonnie McGill, Appellant-Defendant v. State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff (2025)

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Case Summary

[1] Lonnie McGill appeals his convictions for two counts of armed robbery, as Level 3 felonies; kidnapping, as a Level 3 felony; criminal confinement, as a Level 3 felony; and theft, as a Level 5 felony. McGill raises one issue for our review, namely, whether the State presented sufficient evidence to support his convictions. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] At around 9:00 a.m. on the morning of December 15, 2021, Tonya Stowers and Domonique Wilson were delivering cash in a Loomis armored vehicle to refill ATMs. Stowers was the driver, and Wilson was the “hopper,” meaning that he was the person who would get in and out of the truck at each stop to “deliver the cash, pick up the cash.” Tr. Vol. 3 at 134. That morning, Stowers and Wilson made stops at a Kroger grocery store and a Speedway gas station before stopping at a Dollar General in Indianapolis.

[3] When they arrived at the Dollar General, Wilson exited the truck with a bag of cash, filled the ATM, and left the store with an empty bag. As he was leaving the store, a white Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck pulled up behind the armored truck, and “[t]wo guys hopped out[.]” Id. at 137. The two men, who had masks over their faces and coverings over their hair, pointed guns at Wilson, and one man “grabbed” Wilson by his hair and pulled him to the side of the armored truck. Id. at 138. The men “holler[ed]” at Stowers to open the doors. Id. Stowers was able to activate the armored truck's alarm, and the two men “r[a]n off.” Id. at 141. During the altercation, one of the men took the empty cash bag from Wilson. Wilson called 9-1-1, but the White Silverado was gone by the time police had arrived.

[4] The next day, Troy Harper was driving an armored truck for Brinks in order to pick up and drop off cash at certain locations. One of his stops that day was at an AutoZone in Indianapolis, where he was going to make two deliveries. When he arrived, Harper scanned the money that needed to be delivered, and he took the first delivery inside. When he exited the store to get the second delivery, “two guys” got out of a red car and “ran up on” him. Id. at 202. The two men, who had masks covering their faces, each pointed a gun at Harper, and one man “pulled” Harper to the back of his armored truck. Id. at 206. The men were able to get Harper's keys, and they got into his vehicle. The men were also able to get into the “safe compartment,” and they grabbed “multiple bags” of money. Id. at 207. The men then returned to their vehicle and left. In all, the men took almost $800,000 in cash. Once they left, Harper called the police.

[5] During the initial investigation into the AutoZone robbery, officers were able to locate the red car, which had been abandoned, approximately one block away from the AutoZone. Officers found a license plate in the trunk of the car and determined that it was registered to Erica Moore. A while later, a loss prevention officer from Kroger contacted the police and sent still photographs from a surveillance video taken the day prior. The pictures show a white pickup truck and a silver Ford Mustang following a Loomis truck as it pulled into Kroger. The drivers of the two vehicles “interacted” with each other. Tr. Vol. 4 at 7. Then, when the armored car left, the pickup truck and the Mustang left “at the same time.” Id.

[6] The police then began searching for the pickup truck and Mustang using a license plate reader system. Officers found several images of the two vehicles between December 14 and 16. The images showed the two cars travelling through multiple intersections together on the morning of December 14. Images taken on December 15 show the white pickup truck travelling through the same intersections as it had the previous day. Then, on December 16, images showed the Mustang travelling with the red car approximately thirty minutes prior to the AutoZone robbery. The images revealed that the Mustang had the custom license plate, “Bredwin.” Id. at 24. Officers were able to determine that the Mustang was registered to Christie Foster (“Christie”), Devante Foster's (“Foster”) mother. Officers also discovered from a police report that Foster had been pulled over on November 30 while driving the Mustang. Foster is McGill's stepbrother.

[7] Both Foster and McGill matched the victims’ general descriptions of the perpetrators, so police began conducting surveillance on a house on Roseway Drive, which was an address associated with McGill and Foster, as well as a house on Riley Avenue, which was the home of the mother of one of McGill's children.

[8] On December 20, police received information that Foster was travelling back to Indianapolis from Michigan in a black Chevrolet Tahoe. Officers conducted a traffic stop of Foster's vehicle, during which they found his cell phone and wallet, a bag containing over $36,000, a laptop, gaming monitors, and receipts from stores in Michigan where Foster had purchased items with cash. The Tahoe had a temporary license plate, which indicated to officers that it had been “[n]ewly purchased[.]” Id. at 64. Officers had previously seen that Tahoe at the Roseway Drive house.

[9] A short while later, officers who were surveilling the house on Roseway Drive saw McGill pull into the driveway in a Jeep. McGill then left the house, and police followed. As McGill pulled onto I-465, he began to drive at speeds of 120 to 130 miles per hour. The police pursued McGill, who crashed his Jeep into a guardrail. McGill continued driving and ultimately ended up at the house on Riley Avenue, where police detained him. Police observed that the Mustang was parked in front of that house. During a search of McGill and the Jeep, officers found two cell phones, a handgun, over $2,500 in cash, and title paperwork that indicated that the Jeep had been purchased that same day for over $25,000 and that it had been registered to Christie.

[10] Officers then searched the Roseway Drive house and found McGill's passport, Foster's identification, over $8,000 in cash in shoeboxes, more cash in a vase, a blue mask, receipts for purchases made in cash, multiple handguns, seven flip phones, receipts for items purchased with cash, and cards with handwritten instructions and directions. One card contained the following: “Be at spot by 8:20a,” “know your spot,” “check for cameras,” “practice codes,” “Have a burner,” “Don't use personal names,” and “Don't move unless A or B say[.]” Ex. Vol. 1 at 165. One card contained the handwritten word “AutoZone.” Tr. Vol. 4 at 204. The officers also found remnants of a burnt blue bag “believed to be associated with Brink's” in a firepit in the backyard. Id. at 92-93.

[11] Officers then obtained the data from McGill's two cell phones and Foster's cell phone. One of McGill's phones was registered to him, and he had nicknamed the phone “OG Breadwinner.” Id. at 186. Location data from the phone showed McGill and Foster in the area of AutoZone at the time of the December 16 robbery and phone records demonstrate that McGill and Foster communicated with each other prior to and after the robbery.

[12] The State charged McGill with two counts of armed robbery, as Level 3 felonies; kidnapping, as a Level 3 felony; two counts of criminal confinement, as Level 3 felonies; and theft, as a Level 5 felony. The State also charged Foster and a third individual, Darius Moore, with various offenses. Moore pleaded guilty to armed robbery, and the trial court held a joint jury trial on McGill's and Foster's charges. During the trial, at which McGill appeared pro se, the State called Moore as a witness. Moore testified that he had previously pleaded guilty because he was “involved in the armed robbery” of the AutoZone on December 16. Id. at 219. He also testified that he had “aided Lonnie McGill and Devante Foster in that robbery[.]” Id. at 220.

[13] At the conclusion of the trial, the jury found McGill guilty as charged. The court entered judgment of conviction on all but one count of criminal confinement. The court then sentenced McGill to twenty-eight years in the Department of Correction, to be followed by nine years on probation. This appeal ensued.

Discussion and Decision

[14] McGill contends that the State failed to present sufficient evidence to support his convictions. Our standard of review on a claim of insufficient evidence is well settled:

For a sufficiency of the evidence claim, we look only at the probative evidence and reasonable inferences supporting the verdict. Drane v. State, 867 N.E.2d 144, 146 (Ind. 2007). We do not assess the credibility of witnesses or reweigh the evidence. Id. We will affirm the conviction unless no reasonable fact-finder could find the elements of the crime proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.

Love v. State, 73 N.E.3d 693, 696 (Ind. 2017). It is well settled that “circumstantial evidence alone is sufficient to sustain a conviction.” Warren v. State, 725 N.E.2d 828, 834 (Ind. 2000). And circumstantial evidence need not overcome every reasonable hypothesis of innocence. See Clemons v. State, 987 N.E.2d 92, 95 (Ind. Ct. App. 2013).

[15] Here, McGill was convicted of two counts of armed robbery, one count of kidnapping, one count of criminal confinement, and one count of theft. On appeal, McGill does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support any of the statutory elements of the offenses. Rather, he contends that the State failed to prove that he was one of the perpetrators. In particular, McGill asserts that there “was no direct evidence” that he participated in the offenses, that there were no “witnesses able to identify” the robbers, and that no “vehicle connected Mr. McGill to either robbery.” Appellant's Br. at 15.

[16] However, the evidence most favorable to the verdict supports a reasonable inference that McGill was one of the perpetrators. There is no dispute that three vehicles were involved in the offenses. The perpetrators exited a white pickup truck on December 15 at the Dollar General robbery, and they exited a red vehicle on December 16 at the AutoZone robbery. While the white pickup truck has never been found, video surveillance from a Kroger grocery store shows the pickup travelling with a silver Mustang, and both cars were following a Loomis truck as it pulled into Kroger. The drivers of the two vehicles interacted with each other, and they each left when the Loomis truck left. And images from the license plate reader system showed the Mustang and the pickup truck travelling together through multiple intersections on December 14, and the pickup truck travelling through the same intersections on December 15. Then, on December 16, the Mustang and the red car were captured travelling together.

[17] In addition, the Mustang was found to have a custom license plate, “Bredwin,” which was registered to McGill's stepmother. And that license plate corresponds to the name McGill gave his cell phone: “OG Breadwinner.” Tr. Vol. 4 at 186. Then, when officers ultimately apprehended McGill, he had driven to the home of the mother of one of his children, and the Mustang was parked at that house, a house to which Foster had no connection.

[18] When officers searched McGill, they found two cell phones, a handgun, over $2,500 in cash, and title paperwork that showed that the Jeep he had been driving had been purchased that same day with $25,000 in cash. And, when officers searched the home on Roseway Drive, which was an address associated with McGill, they found McGill's passport, which is an item likely to be kept at one's own home. They also found over $8,000 in cash; multiple handguns; several flip phones; receipts for items purchased with cash; and cards with instructions to be at a “spot” by a certain time, to “check for cameras,” and to not move unless directed. Ex. Vol. 1 at 165. There was also a card with the name “AutoZone” handwritten on it. Tr. Vol. 4 at 204. In addition, officers found the remnants of a blue bag in a firepit that was “believed to be associated with Brink's[.]” Id. at 93.

[19] Further, the cell phone location data from one of the phones recovered from McGill places him in the area of AutoZone during the time of the December 16 robbery. And, notably, Moore testified that he had pleaded guilty because he was “involved in the armed robbery” of the AutoZone on December 16 and that he had “aided Lonnie McGill and Devante Foster in that robbery[.]” Id. at 219-220.

[20] In short, the Mustang was involved in the offenses, and McGill was connected to the Mustang. McGill's residence was found to contain a large amount of cash, handguns, phones, remnants from the Brink's cash bag, receipts for cash purchases, and cards that could reasonably be inferred as instructions on how the perpetrators were to act during the robberies. And McGill's co-defendant named McGill as a participant in the second robbery. From that evidence, a reasonable jury could determine that McGill was one of the perpetrators of both robberies. McGill's arguments on appeal are simply requests that we reweigh the evidence and judge the credibility of the witnesses, which we cannot do.

Conclusion

[21] The State presented sufficient evidence to show that McGill was one of the robbers. We therefore affirm his convictions.

[22] Affirmed.

Bailey, Judge.

Judges Tavitas and Kenworthy concur. Tavitas, J., and Kenworthy, J., concur.