Charges filed in murder of Eric Phillips in June 2018

SOUTH BEND, Ind. --  A suspect has been charged in the murder of Eric Phillips, whose body was found outside a boathouse off Northside Boulevard in South Bend.

Elbert Briggs, 24, has been charged with one count of murder.

On June 23, a South Bend Police officer was driving near the University of Notre Dame's boathouse in the 900 block of Northside Boulevard when he discovered a man lying on a curb in the parking lot of the boathouse.

The body was identified as Eric Phillips.

Video surveillance from the boathouse showed a red Mustang arriving in the parking lot around 3:30 a.m.

Two people, who appeared to be a couple, got out of the vehicle and walk to the back of the Mustang.

Two people then approach the couple. One was wearing a long sleeved white t-shirt, blue jeans and white shoes. After a brief exchange between the two groups, the person wearing the long sleeved white shirt fires at least one shot at Phillips, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Phillips ran east in the parking lot, then collapsed.

The person who was with Phillips and the other two people who came to the scene fled south through the adult workout area, reports said.

After receiving a warrant for Phillips' Facebook account, investigators found a conversation where Phillips plans to meet with TaStacia Parker at the east Race, according to the probable cause affidavit.

When investigators interviewed Parker in late June, she admitted to going to the boathouse with Phillips and was present when he was shot, according to the probable cause affidavit.

After receiving a warrant for Parker's Facebook account, investigators found a picture of a male who was dressed similarly to the man in the long sleeved shirt on the surveillance photo.

He was later identified as Elbert Briggs.

The investigator located a photo of Briggs with a Sccy 9mm on Facebook, reports said.

In July, the projectile found in Phillips' body was identified as coming from a Sccy 9mm, and the casings recovered from the boathouse also came from a Sccy 9mm by a firearms and toolmark expert, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Investigators received a search warrant for the phone records associated with Briggs and Parker. The records showed the two were in the immediate area of the boathouse when Phillips was shot and killed, and traveled together from South Bend to Fort Wayne to West Palm Beach, Florida, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Elbert Briggs was charged with one count of murder on November 1, 2018. He is in custody in Berrien County on an unrelated matter.

An arrest warrant has been issued and he will be held until his bail hearing after the warrant is served.