The body of a missing teen girl in Indianapolis was found in the woods behind her apartment complex and now a maintenance worker in the development is being accused for her death.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said, “On Monday, Oct. 30, 15-year-old Janiya Carr was reported missing by her mother, Demetria Boston. At noon last Wednesday, authorities responded to a report of a body being found in a wooded area near the Carriage House East Apartments.”
“A woman was walking her dog and came upon the girl’s lifeless body behind the complex, where Janiya lived,” the report added.
Janiya was pronounced dead at the scene from injuries consistent with gunshot wounds. She had been shot in her right cheek and had suffered trauma to the back of her head.
On Thursday, police arrested Tevis Walker, 34, for his alleged role in Janiya’s murder.
Investigators later learned that surveillance video allegedly showed Janiya getting into Walker’s Kia Optima at 4:32 a.m. on Saturday.
An hour or so later, Walker was seen on surveillance driving his car to the wooded spot where Janiya’s body was later discovered.
“The lights of the vehicle go off,” states the affidavit. “Movement can be seen, but the view is not clear. At 5:25 a.m., Walker drove back to his apartment, parked the car and went inside the building, which is just a few hundred feet from the scene.”
It is unclear how Walker and Janiya knew each other, or if they did.
Authorities soon learned that Walker worked for Carriage House East, where Janiya lived. He also lived at the complex.
Walker told police that he picked a girl up on Saturday and drove her to buy a tablet. He then claimed that he drove the girl back to the complex when the person selling the tablet failed to show up.
Janiya’s mother was sick with worry when her daughter went missing on Oct. 30 and reported her disappearance to police.
However, authorities did not issue a missing persons alert for her. Police considered her a runaway.
Boston was furious when she learned that Walker had active warrants in Alabama and Georgia.
“How is it that they allowed this man to work here knowing that he has a warrant out of Alabama?” Boston said. “How can you allow that? I feel tortured.”
The owner of the apartment complex, the Gene B. Glick Company, said in a statement to WTHR that Walker had only been working at the complex for a few months.
“The Gene B. Glick Company was shocked and deeply saddened by the fatal shooting of Janiya Carr, a teenage resident of Carriage House East in Indianapolis. We mourn with her family and friends and our entire Carriage House East community over this senseless tragedy.”
“A Carriage House East employee has been arrested for this crime and we are working closely with IMPD to actively assist with the investigation. Our community’s private security force, comprised of off-duty IMPD officers, has been working with and providing information to IMPD and their detectives and investigators,” the statement continued.
“The individual under arrest was hired in June 2023 after passing state and national background checks administered by a professional screening company. All Glick employee applicants must pass these background checks to gain employment. These checks did not reveal the individual’s pending charges in Alabama and Georgia, and we have an inquiry into our background check provider for further explanation,” the statement concluded.
Walker is being held without bond. It is unclear whether he has retained an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
“The senseless and tragic death of Janiya Carr is unconscionable and unacceptable for her family, friends and community,” IMPD Deputy Chief Kendale Adams said in the statement.
“I feel empty,” Boston told news media. “I feel confused. I have so many emotions. I feel sick. I don’t know how to live with this pain.”
