State Drops Charges Against Man Accused Of Shooting Partygoer

CROWN POINT — Lake County prosecutors last week dropped charges against a Gary man, who at one time had agreed to a seven-year sentence in connection with a Gary shooting.

Victor L. Nelson III, 29, pleaded guilty in March 2021 to one count of aggravated battery and battery resulting in serious bodily injury, but Lake Criminal Court Judge Salvador Vasquez rejected Nelson’s plea agreement the following month.

Nelson was on parole at the time of the June 2019 shooting and had a significant criminal history, the judge said. At the time, attorneys said they would look at revising the plea agreement.

According to court records, Nelson became angry about the presence of a man from Gary’s Glen Park section at a party June 30, 2019, in the 2200 block of Carolina Street in Gary. Nelson was accused of shooting the man from Glen Park in the arm and hitting the party’s host in the back of his head.

The case was complicated by the homicide of Nelson’s co-defendant, Kevin Blackmon, 26, who also was accused of punching one of the victims. Blackmon was killed in a shooting Sept. 27, 2020, outside a Gary nightclub.

In November, Nelson’s attorney, John Cantrell, told the judge Lake County Deputy Prosecutor Keith Anderson was having a difficult time communicating with the two victims, each of whom had moved out of state.

Last week, prosecutors moved to dismiss charges of attempted murder, five felony counts of battery and criminal recklessness against Nelson due to a lack of cooperation from the victims.

Vasquez on Friday granted the state’s motion to dismiss and canceled Nelson’s jury trial, which had been scheduled for this week.