Yahoo News Second defendant in Portage Township murder case held without bond, appointed public defender
The second defendant charged with murder in the June death of a Hobart man who met his two alleged killers on a gay dating app will remain in Porter County Jail held without bond and was appointed a public defender.
Jada Monroe, 29, of Danville, Virginia, who also goes by Jawon Martin, had an initial hearing Thursday morning before Porter Superior Court Judge Michael Fish.
Monroe is charged with one county of murder and one county of murder in the perpetration of a robbery, both Level 1 felonies, and robbery, a Level 2 felony.
Monroe has pleaded not guilty for his role in the death of Derek Hartz, 35. He was booked into the Porter County Jail at 2 p.m. Tuesday after being transferred from the Hamilton County, Ohio jail.
Monroe and Domonic Brothers, 28, of Gary, who also goes by Domonic Weaver, face the same counts.
Hartz’s partially nude body was found on a deflated air mattress by a fisherman around 10:30 a.m. on June 13 in the Chustak Salt Creek Fishing Area at 331 West County Road 600 North in Portage Township, according to court documents. He was wearing a blood soaked white T-shirt and had multiple stab and blunt force trauma wounds to his head and chest, with his clothes next to him.
Police in Cincinnati picked up the pair in the hours after Hartz’s death after they were in a police pursuit there and crashed the car Hartz shared with his mother, police have said.
According to charging documents, Hartz met up with Brothers and Martin on a gay dating app. Investigators found the app on Martin’s cellphone, as well as messages with Hartz from Brothers and Martin.
Martin owned a gold fanny pack which they realized they left by the fishing pond after they left the area, according to charging documents. “They drove back to the scene and observed law enforcement vehicles and immediately left the area.”
Attorney Clay Patton was assigned as Monroe’s public defender, according to a representative from Fish’s office. Monroe has a status hearing at 9 a.m. on Feb. 29 and a pretrial hearing at 9 a.m. on March 11; a trial date will be set later.
Brothers has been in custody since July 26 and has pleaded not guilty. He is scheduled for a status conference on Feb. 9 before Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Clymer.
