HOBART | Jason Gaboian shot 25-year-old Deshun Bennett in the head, then -- when Bennett didn't die -- Gaboian shot him again and slashed his throat, authorities said.
Gaboian and his stripper girlfriend then drove Bennett's body from the Cressmoor Arms in Hobart to a littered vacant lot in Gary and dumped it, according to police and prosecutors.
Gaboian, 21, faces a murder charge.
His, girlfriend Ashley Lawrence, 18, was charged with assisting a criminal. Authorities contend she helped dump Bennett's half-clothed body in a garbage pile Tuesday afternoon.
Gaboian, Lawrence and Bennett partied together Monday evening at a Gary strip club before going back to Hobart's Cressmoor Arms apartment complex for more drinks, court records state. Two Gary strip club owners who did not wish to be identified confirmed Thursday that Lawrence had danced in their clubs.
Lawrence and Gaboian agreed Bennett should sleep the night on the couch because he had too much to drink, the records allege.
When Lawrence got up in the night, Bennett woke and talked to her, court records state. Bennett grabbed Lawrence's wrist and tried to kiss her after she said she was going to bed, the records state. Lawrence said Bennett tried to fondle her, the records state, so she called Gaboian for help.
Gaboian and Bennett scuffled over a gun Bennett brought with him, and Gaboian shot Bennett in the forehead, court records charge.
Bennett didn't die immediately, so Gaboian slashed his throat with a knife because "he kept making these weird horrible noises," Lawrence reportedly told police. Gaboian then shot Bennett again in the back of the head, court records state.
The pair then loaded Bennett's body into the back of Gaboian's pickup truck and dumped Bennett and the knife in an abandoned lot in Gary on Tuesday afternoon, police said. Police found Bennett's body shortly after, clothed in underwear and a Bears T-shirt.
Police who responded to the Hobart shooting call said they found Gaboian covered in blood and repeating, "He was raping her, so I shot him in the head and dumped him in Gary," according to court records.
Police said they found Gaboian's pickup truck in the apartment parking lot with what appeared to be blood on the tailgate and in the truck bed.
Hobart police said the apartment was Gaboian's, while public records indicate the apartment was in Lawrence's name. Court records state Lawrence and Gaboian both lived at the apartment.
A manager at Honey's Gentlemen's Lounge on Ind. 20 in Gary's Miller neighborhood confirmed Lawrence had danced at the club. A manager at another club said Lawrence had danced at her club and said she used the stage name "Mercedes."
Gaboian's "Nerve Damage" band mates asked him to leave the group weeks ago because Gaboian seemed to have "personal problems," said lead singer Dave Erickson. Erickson said Thursday the band mates of the alternative metal group noticed Gaboian's decline a few months ago, about when he met Lawrence.
Despite the group's decision to ask Gaboian to leave the band, his arrest "is a big shock to everyone," Erickson said.
"He is a very talented guitar player -- the most talented musician I've met," Erickson said. "It just seemed like he had a lot of problems going on in his life, and he needed to address them. We wanted him to get some help."
Bennett lived with his mother on Hovey Street near Fifth Avenue in Gary. Neighbors Crystal and Michael Mendez said Bennett helped his mother with yard work, shoveled snow and washed her car. They never knew of him getting in trouble, they agreed.
