Malik Shaw, Appellant-Defendant v. State of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff (2026)

MEMORANDUM DECISION

[1] Spencer Lawson, Aaliyah Wortman, and Londyn Coleman were shot and killed by one or both of two masked shooters who were dressed in black. Shortly thereafter, Malik Shaw was seen wearing and then discarding a mask and all-black clothing while hiding in a nearby yard. In the same yard, police later found two handguns that were used in the shootings. Shaw's DNA was found on the gun that fired the majority of the cartridge casings found near Wortman's and Coleman's bodies. His cellphone was also found in the shooters’ abandoned getaway car.

[2] After a jury trial, Shaw was convicted of murdering Wortman and Coleman only. He now appeals those convictions, claiming the trial court erred by admitting into evidence a series of text messages that indicated he conspired with another person to commit the murders. We find the alleged error harmless, and affirm.

Facts

[3] Around 7:00 p.m. on April 12, 2024, Lawson, Wortman, and Coleman were shot and killed in the parking lot of a Lawrence apartment complex. An employee-resident of the complex, Russ Neibert, was awakened by the gunfire, looked out his apartment window, and saw two masked individuals holding handguns in the parking lot. Both were wearing all black, and one chased after a third person as the gunfire continued.

[4] Neibert, a Navy veteran, grabbed his own handgun and ran outside. By the time he arrived at the parking lot, the masked men had entered a silver Chevrolet Impala that was turning around. Believing the vehicle was heading toward the apartment complex's lone exit, Neibert ran around his apartment building and positioned himself in the roadway to block it. Moments later, as the Impala approached Neibert, he raised his gun and pointed it at the vehicle. The vehicle then stopped, reversed, and spun around before speeding off through a grassy area. The shooters then abandoned the vehicle along a fence surrounding the complex.

[5] Surveillance cameras outside a medical facility roughly one block north of the apartment complex soon recorded a man—later identified as Shaw—wearing a black mask, black pants, and a black hoodie in the back yard of an adjacent property. Shaw hid behind a shed in this yard for a few minutes and then emerged wearing a white tank top and black shorts with a large white Nike “swoosh” logo across both legs. Tr. Vol. II, p. 181. Shaw crept around this yard for nearly 20 minutes before jumping its fence and moving out of view.

[6] Not long thereafter, a surveillance camera outside a sports bar roughly one block west of the medical facility recorded Shaw in the bar's parking lot. He approached a vehicle in which bar patron Donald McLauley was smoking and offered to pay McLauley $200 to drive him home. According to McLauley, Shaw claimed to have gotten into an argument with his girlfriend and needed to get home to his kids. McLauley agreed to take Shaw home and drove him to an address Shaw entered into Google Maps on McLauley's cellphone.

[7] Meanwhile, police arrived at the apartment complex in response to calls about the gunfire. They found Wortman's and Coleman's bodies lying next to a silver Chevrolet Cruze that had both passenger-side doors open. It appeared that Wortman and Coleman were shot while trying to exit the vehicle. Across the parking lot, between two other vehicles, police found Lawson's body lying face down in a pool of blood. The two areas where the three bodies lay were littered with fired cartridge casings. Autopsies later revealed that Lawson was shot 26 times, Wortman was shot 11 times, and Coleman was shot 3 times.

[8] While processing the crime scene, police found a red iPhone in the front seat of the abandoned Impala. A forensic examination of this phone later revealed it to be Shaw's. A DNA swab of the Impala's steering wheel, gear shift, turn signal, seatbelt buckle, and interior driver's side door handle also revealed a DNA profile that, when analyzed, showed “very strong support” for Shaw being a contributor. Tr. Vol. III, p. 92.

[9] During a neighborhood canvass, police found keys to the Impala as well as a black mask, black pants, and a black hoodie in the back yard of the property adjacent to the medical facility. They also interviewed McLauley, who later identified Shaw from a photo lineup as the man he drove home from the sports bar the evening of the shootings. When police eventually searched Shaw's home, they found a pair of Nike shorts identical to those worn by the man in the surveillance videos from the medical facility and sports bar.

[10] Elsewhere on the property adjacent to the medical facility, police found two firearms: a Glock 19 and a Glock 20. A DNA swab of the Glock 20's trigger, grip, and magazine release button later revealed a DNA profile that, when analyzed, showed “very strong support” for Shaw being a contributor. Id. at 93. Both firearms also underwent forensic examinations to determine if they fired any of the numerous cartridge casings found at the scene of the shootings.

[11] A firearms examiner identified 19 cartridge casings as having been fired by the Glock 19. Of those casings, 9 were found on the ground in a crude line that began behind the Cruze and ended across the parking lot to the right of the two vehicles between which Lawson's body was found. The other 10 casings were found on the ground in front of those vehicles, closer to Lawson's body. The examiner also identified bullets and bullet fragments that were recovered from each of the three victims’ bodies as having been fired by the Glock 19.

[12] Meanwhile, the examiner identified 14 cartridge casings as having been fired by the Glock 20. Of those casings, 12 were found inside the Cruze, and 2 were found on the ground by Wortman's and Coleman's bodies. The examiner did not positively identify any of the bullets or bullet fragments that were recovered from the three victims’ bodies as having been fired by the Glock 20, but the examiner could not eliminate the Glock 20 as having fired some of them.

[13] The State eventually charged Shaw with Lawson's, Wortman's, and Coleman's murders. Among the evidence presented at Shaw's jury trial, the State offered a series of text messages that someone identified as “Big Johnny” sent to Shaw's iPhone on the day of the shootings.¹ In pertinent part, the messages stated:

4:31 p.m. “Aye tho u damn near got get in whip tell em give u they phones then do it” 4:34 p.m. “Too bad you ain't got a bando with a garage have em pull in that mf lol” 4:38 p.m. “You gone be able pull it off or na” 4:55 p.m. “Bet lmk asap send somewhere no one gone be outside an u can get inside whip and do dat” 5:03 p.m. “anywhere just make sure no cameras” 5:35 p.m. “Make sure crib dont look to suspicious” 6:06 p.m. “Send the lo mfka” 6:07 p.m. “Is it a bando” 6:21 p.m. “Apartment?” 6:23 p.m. “If he see mask he gone pull off” 6:23 p.m. “Okay bet tell bro he can't be wearing mask either bro” 6:23 p.m. “Just make sure spank em both fosho” 6:48 p.m. “2016 Chevy cruise” 6:48 p.m. “Silver” 6:55 p.m. “Man make sure one in da head” 6:55 p.m. “Tell bro start firing they ass up when u do” 6:55 p.m. “We need no critical conditions”

Exhs. Vol. IV, pp. 103-16.

[14] Shaw objected on hearsay grounds to the admission of Big Johnny's text messages, but the State claimed they were statements made by a coconspirator and, thus, not hearsay under Indiana Evidence Rule 801(d)(2)(E). To establish the existence of the conspiracy, as that rule requires, the State primarily relied on an additional message that Big Johnny sent Shaw roughly 30 minutes before the shootings. This message contained only a photograph of Lawson with no accompanying text; therefore, the State claimed it was not a statement governed by the hearsay rules. The trial court agreed and admitted Big Johnny's text messages over Shaw's objection.

[15] The jury went on to find Shaw guilty of murdering Wortman and Coleman, but it was unable to reach a verdict as to the murder of Lawson. The trial court entered judgments of conviction accordingly and later sentenced Shaw to a total of 116 years in prison on the two counts of murder.

Discussion and Decision

[16] Shaw appeals his murder convictions, arguing that the trial court erred by admitting Big Johnny's text messages as statements made by a coconspirator under Indiana Evidence Rule 801(d)(2)(E). More specifically, Shaw claims the message containing the photograph of Lawson was a nonverbal assertion by Big Johnny, qualified as a “statement” for hearsay purposes,² and therefore, could not be used to establish the existence of the alleged conspiracy. See generally Lander v. State, 762 N.E.2d 1208, 1213 (Ind. 2002) (quoting Lott v. State, 690 N.E.2d 204, 209 (Ind. 1997)) (“We ․ require that the State prove that there is ‘independent evidence’ of the conspiracy before the statements will be admissible as non-hearsay under Rule 801(d)(2)(E).”).

[17] “We typically review a trial court's evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion, which occurs when a ruling [was] clearly against the logic and effect of the facts and circumstances before the court.” Barbee v. State, 269 N.E.3d 888, 894 (Ind. Ct. App. 2025) (internal quotation marks omitted). But we disregard non-constitutional errors in the admission of evidence “where [their] probable impact, in light of all the evidence in the case, is sufficiently minor so as not to affect the substantial rights of the parties.” Ind. Appellate Rule 66(A). Such errors are harmless. Hayko v. State, 211 N.E.3d 483, 492 (Ind. 2023).

[18] “Under [the probable impact] test, the party seeking relief bears the burden of demonstrating how, in light of all the evidence in the case, the error's probable impact undermines confidence in the outcome of the proceeding below.” Id. Shaw argues that Big Johnny's text messages likely had a significant impact on the jury finding him guilty of murdering Wortman and Coleman. He suggests the messages were the only evidence tying him to the murders, claiming “[t]he other evidence was far from conclusive and merely connected Shaw to the Impala and [Glock 20], not the murders themselves.” Appellant's Br., p. 20.

[19] But contrary to Shaw's claim, the other evidence did more than merely connect him to the Impala and the Glock 20. It showed the following:

• Shortly after the shooters abandoned the Impala, a surveillance camera recorded Shaw in the back yard of a property roughly one block north. He was wearing a mask and dressed in all black, just like the shooters. And once in the yard, he hid behind a shed, removed his mask and all-black clothing, and then crept around for roughly 20 minutes;

• The Glock 20 was determined to have fired 14 of the cartridge casings found at the scene of the shootings. Twelve of these casings were found inside the Cruze, which Wortman and Coleman appeared to have been trying to exit when they were shot. The other 2 casings were found on the ground by Wortman's and Coleman's bodies; and

• The Glock 20 could not be eliminated as having fired some of the bullets or bullet fragments recovered from Wortman's and Coleman's bodies.

[20] Given all this evidence, even if we assume Big Johnny's text messages were erroneously admitted, the error's probable impact on the outcome of the case was sufficiently minor so as not to affect Shaw's substantial rights. Finding the alleged error harmless, we affirm Shaw's murder convictions.

FOOTNOTES

1.   The messages were sent using an encrypted cellphone application, Signal, and were only preserved through the iPhone's notifications of received messages. Because of the encryption, any messages Shaw may have sent in response to Big Johnny could not be recovered.

2.   For hearsay purposes, Evidence Rule 801(a) defines “statement” to mean “a person's oral assertion, written assertion, or nonverbal conduct if the person intended it as an assertion.”

Weissmann, Judge.

Tavitas, C.J., and Foley, J., concur.