A lack of evidence, conflicting statements and difficulty finding witnesses led to the decision that no charges would be filed in a shooting that killed a man in Greenwood last year.
In December, three men were shot at a home on Meridian Street just north of downtown Greenwood, and one of the men died. A person who called 911 reported a robbery and that shots had been fired, police said at the time.
One man, Karin Castro, 21, died at an Indianapolis hospital after being shot in the chest. Two other men were shot in the abdomen and leg and were treated and released from area hospitals.
After the shooting, where police said multiple people fired multiple shots, people fled the home, causing nearby schools to be put on lockdown.
Two people were found at a nearby church, which also had a day care inside. A woman, Tania Chaves, was arrested during a traffic stop after driving away in a car that was warming up outside the home.
But police did not recommend charges in the shooting death for multiple reasons, Greenwood Police Assistant Chief Matt Fillenwarth said.
Police and the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office agreed that the residents who fired shots, Felipe and Jose Zaragoza, were acting in self defense since the other people who came to the home were planning to rob them and fired shots, Fillenwarth and Prosecutor Brad Cooper said.
Investigators also got conflicting statements from the people involved and were unable to locate witnesses who had been at the home and fled, Fillenwarth said.
Police also did not have enough physical evidence to file charges. And the homeowner couldn’t identify the people who came to the home who were shot, he said.
Police and the prosecutor’s office discussed the case, and their assessment was that there was not enough evidence to file any charges, Cooper and Fillenwarth said.
If more, substantial evidence was found in the future, police and the prosecutor’s office could discuss charges then, Fillenwarth said.
