INDIANAPOLIS — A teenager faces multiple felony charges after police said he helped organize, promote and host several illegal parties at rental properties.
One of these resulted in 10 people between the ages of 16 and 22 being shot, and 16-year-old Kalin Washington being killed.
According to a press release from the Marion County Prosecutor's Office, 19-year-old Jalen Helm created a scheme to plan and host at least eight illegal events between June 16, 2023, and Oct. 28, 2023. He promoted the events through social media and mainly targeted them at young people.
Per the MCPO, Helm allegedly supplied drugs and alcohol to attendees, knowingly let armed guests into the premises and collected cover charges at the events.
He is also accused of using stolen credit card info to pay for the property rentals and event expenses. Helm did not have the proper documentation or permits to host the events legally, the press release stated.
“These illegal parties and events are a ticking time-bomb for a disaster,” said Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears.
"[Helm] is alleged to have taken significant measures to shield his parties from the veil of law enforcement and rental property owners, while providing unsafe environments for numerous teenagers and young people. We will continue to work with law enforcement to shut down those who put young people’s lives at risk through these illegal events.”
Helm faces the following preliminary charges:
- Two counts of Corrupt Business Influence (Level 5 Felonies)
- Reckless Homicide (Level 5 Felony)
- Identity Deception (Level 5 Felony)
- Six counts of Maintaining a Common Nuisance (Level 6 Felonies)
- Four counts of Money Laundering (Level 6 Felonies)
- Criminal Recklessness (Level 6 Felony)
- Fraud (Level 6 Felony)
- Theft (Level 6 Felony)
- Ten counts of Theft (Class A Misdemeanors)
- Two counts of Criminal Recklessness (Class B Misdemeanors)
- Sale of Alcoholic Beverage without a Permit (Class B Misdemeanor)
Specifically, court documents state that Helm's reckless homicide charge alleges him of recklessly killing Washington at an event "...where alcohol, drugs and guns were encouraged and anticipated."
Prosecutor Mears told FOX59/CBS4 in an interview Friday that he hopes the charges send a strong message to the community.
"When you create an environment that is that dangerous, that puts so many people in danger or at risk, we need to send a clear message that that’s the type of behavior and activities that we cannot tolerate as a community," he said.
Mears said illegal underage parties like these are still a common issue IMPD cracks down on nearly every week. In fact, he said IMPD broke up three of four similar gatherings just last weekend. Mears said it is something law enforcement want to stop before it gets any worse.
"If you see these things going on, it is important that somebody in law enforcement is notified so that we can take action," he said. "Because if we don’t, the consequences have been outlined far too many times in this community where we see people who just think they’re going to a party to have fun and they end up being seriously injured or losing their life."
In addition to organizing these unlawful gatherings, investigators said Helm stole several credit cards and occasionally used some of that money to fund his parties.
"What we are alleging here is that more than 100 people had their identities stolen through credit card theft," Mears said. "We also saw a number of instances where people’s credit card information was being bought and sold. We saw money change in hand over CashApp for different things."
Helm is expected to have an initial court appearance early next week.
Michael Van Schoik contributed to this report.