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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Police tracked social media interactions and used a laptop computer to communicate with a woman who’d been shot in order to find the person responsible.
Tavarous D. Roney, 21, is charged with attempted murder and criminal recklessness following the June 14 shooting of a woman at Willowbrook Apartments in Bloomington.
The shooting, according to court documents, happened around 11 p.m. when the woman and a juvenile tried to steal marijuana from Roney after setting up a deal to buy it for $600.
The juvenile displayed a handgun during the encounter, according to court documents, although the firearm turned out to be a pellet gun. After the pair took the marijuana from Roney and told him they weren’t paying for it, he fired several shots from his car and drove away.
The bullets hit the woman in the face and chest while she was outside her apartment. She then ran inside after hearing the gunfire and realized she’d been shot.
The woman was taken to an Indianapolis hospital. Since she was unable to talk, investigators communicated with her via alphabet cards and a laptop computer on which she typed messages to police, according to court documents.
She revealed she’d met Roney and arranged the pot deal on social media. Police tracked him through Snapchat messages and also found his Twitter and Instagram accounts.
The woman said she and the juvenile had agreed on the night of the shooting that they were going to rob Roney.
She communicated to police that after Roney arrived, the juvenile told him, “Give it to us” and then pulled up his shirt to reveal he had a weapon tucked into his waistband.
She told police Roney opened fire from his car while she was in the parking lot just outside her apartment.
Police found the pellet gun hidden inside a pet food container in the kitchen, according to court documents.
Online court records indicated Roney had an initial hearing Thursday, with a bail review hearing scheduled for next week and a projected jury trial date in January.
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