From left: Amarion Cutler (St. Joseph County Jail), Nagomba White Jr. (St. Joseph County Jail), Josiah Small (Boyd and Son Funeral Home).
Two Indiana men pleaded guilty to chasing down four boys and opening fire, killing a 12-year-old and injuring a 14-year-old in a shooting prosecutors said “just tears at your heart.”
Amarion Cutler, 19, on Monday pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated battery in the 2023 death of Josiah Small and injury to the other boy in South Bend. A judge sentenced him to 25 years behind bars with credit for the roughly two years he”s already served. Prosecutors dropped the charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder as part of the plea agreement.
Nagomba White Jr., 22, last week pleaded guilty to murder and battery by means of a deadly weapon. He’s slated to be sentenced on Oct. 3.
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As Law&Crime previously reported, St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter said at a press conference the incident unfolded around 9 p.m. on Oct. 27, 2023, when three 12-year-old boys and a 14-year-old boy were walking in an alley. The boys split up and a short time later, two of them got into a “brief confrontation” with two men who were sitting in a car. The boys walked away.
“Two individuals then turned around their car, chase[d] after” the boys, Cotter said. “Both individuals got out and discharged their firearms at those four boys. Even though they had separated, they were somewhat close enough.”
The South Bend Police Department received a ShotSpotter alert about shots fired in the area and responded. Officers found two of the boys shot. One, later identified as 12-year-old Josiah Small, was pronounced dead at the scene. The other, 14, suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and survived.
Detectives tracked down video of the incident, which showed that after the interaction with the boys, the suspects made a U-turn and sped toward the boys. They got out of the car and one went after Josiah and the boy he was with and the other suspect went after the other two boys who were nearby, according to a probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime. The video showed muzzle flashes coming from the guns.
Investigators identified the two suspects as White and Cutler.
Cotter declined to describe the “brief confrontation” between the suspects and victims. He said the killing marked a sad day for the community.
“Every murder is senseless to those of us that don’t do that,” Cotter said. “But gosh darn it, this one just tears at your heart.”
According to his obituary, Josiah played football for Dickinson Middle School and had celebrated his 12th birthday party just seven days prior to his death.
“He enjoyed watching anime and YouTube,” the obit said. “He also loved wrestling and spending endless hours enjoying the company of his baby sister who he truly adored.”
His mother, Erika Small, told the South Bend Tribune that she moved her family months before the shooting to a safer area because she feared her son “being at the wrong place at the wrong time and something happening to him.” She said the charges didn’t make her feel any better “but it is reassuring that [police] are doing their job and that they care.”
