A suspected serial killer is due in court Tuesday. Charges were filed by police in Hammond, Ind against Gary resident Darren Deon Vann, 43, for the murder of Afrika Hardy, 19 on Monday. The charges also included murder in the perpetration of a robbery and robbery resulting in serious bodily injury.
Hardy’s body was found at a Motel 6 in Hammond. The initial murder investigation led to a confession by Vann, according to investigators, of six other murders that he said he committed where he dumped the bodies in various abandoned houses and buildings in Gary, Ind. The Gary Police Department joined forces with Hammond Police on Saturday, Oct. 18 to investigate those locations. Police recovered bodies where Vann’s info led them.
Hammond Police Chief John D. Doughty said that Vann continues to cooperate and that this investigation is ongoing. Doughty said Vann’s killing spree may span two decades.
The presence of a suspected serial killer in the community utilizing the blight and abandoned buildings in the area as a dumping ground has the community on edge. This case is also drawing attention to the blight across Gary and other areas in Northwest Indiana and the need for neighborhood revitalization efforts. Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, addresses this case and more in the video below.
This is a developing story.
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