Court documents: Murder in parking lot of rec center was botched robbery

The murder of Felipe Gutierrez Saturday afternoon was the result of a botched robbery, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Two 17-year-olds, George Watson Jr. and Qualan Jones, have been charged with murder in the death of Gutierrez.

At 2:20 p.m., South Bend Police were called to the parking lot of the Charles Black Recreation Center on Washington Street in South Bend to investigate a shooting.

Police found Gutierrez lying in the front seat of a BMW. He was deceased.

The autopsy revealed Gutierrez died of gunshot wounds.

While investigating, police spoke with a witness who was in Gutierrez's car with him when the shooting happened.

The witness told police Gutierrez was meeting someone who was going to sell him an iPhone 7 for $200, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The purchase had been set up through the Facebook Marketplace.

According to the witness, two men got into the back seat of Gutierrez's BMW to make the sale.

The person who got into the car and sat behind the passenger seat pulled out a gun and demanded money, according to court documents.

The other man in the back seat, behind the driver, did not display a weapon.

The witness told police he handed over his cash, but Gutierrez pulled a weapon from the driver's door panel. The witness ducked down and the man in the back seat shot Gutierrez, according to the probable cause affidavit.

The men in the back seat got out of the car and ran from the scene, but left their cell phone in the car.

Police searched the victim's cell phone and determined through Facebook, the person who set up the sale with Gutierrez was George Watson, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Watson spoke with police and allegedly admitted to setting up a deal to sell an iPhone 7 for $200.

Watson told police he attempted to sell a Samsung phone to the buyer, instead of the iPhone, and the buyer pulled a gun.

Watson then told police he fled from the car. And as he fled from the car, Watson told police he heard gunshots, then his friend was behind him.

Watson told police they ran back to their car, a Pontiac.

At the car, Watson's friend allegedly said, "I don’t know what just happened, I think I just killed him, I shot him."

The driver of the Pontiac was identified as Qualan Jones, police said.

A fourth person in the vehicle was identified as Jones' brother.

Jones and his brother spoke to police with their parents present. Initially they said they did not know Watson and the other person were going to commit a robbery, but they later admitted they did know about the robbery, police said.

The Jones brothers said they were going to get a cut of the robbery for driving, according to the probable cause affidavit.

George Watson Jr. has been charged with murder, felony murder and robbery.

Qualan Jones has been charged with one count of felony murder.

In addition to the two people charged, a 16-year-old was taken into custody on Wednesday. The prosecutor's office filed a petition alleging delinquency in juvenile court for what would be assisting a criminal if committed by an adult.

The prosecutor's office also filed a petition alleging delinquency in juvenile court for a fourth person, a 15-year-old, for what would be murder, felony murder and robbery, if committed by an adult. This person has not been taken into custody yet.

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