Final suspect found guilty of two counts of murder in Frederickson Street shootout

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- During his second trial, Benito Pedraza was found guilty of killing Damon Bethel and Anton James at a house on Frederickson Street in August 2017 in a drug related shooting.

He was one of six people charged in the fatal shooting.

The jury deliberated less than two hours before finding Pedraza guilty of two counts of murder and one count of robbery.

He was additionally found guilty of another count of murder but the court did not enter a finding of guilty on that count.

Pedraza's first trial in June ended in a mistrial after one of the jurors looked up details of the case.

Pedraza will be sentenced in October 2019.

BACKGROUND:

On August 2, South Bend Police were in the area of Lincolnway and Frederickson when they heard gunshots. The officers then headed towards the gunshots and several people directed them to a home on Frederickson.

Inside the garage of the home, they found two people lying on the ground with gunshot wounds.

Joshua Sage was transported to the hospital for treatment of his gunshot wounds.

The other man, Damon Bethel, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police learned two others had been shot, but fled the scene in an SUV.

The SUV crashed into a home several blocks from the scene of the shooting.

The driver, Anton James, was pronounced dead at the scene. His passenger, Alyssa Sanchez, was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the head.

During the investigation, police found several guns and two pounds of meth.

Police also located video cameras which captured the entire incident.

During the investigation, police spoke with several people who were at the home at the time of the shooting.

Robert Brady told police he and Sage were hired by Ron Snyder to act as 'muscle.' He said Snyder deals meth out of his home and he and Sage were hired to protect Snyder and the drugs.

On the night of the shooting, Snyder was inside the home and Sage and Brady were outside in the garage.

Bethel allegedly ran into the garage with a gun and demanded the drugs, but began shooting before any could be handed over.

Sage shot Bethel and Bethel shot Sage, Brady told police. He added shots also came from the direction of an SUV.

When police spoke with Snyder, he denied being a drug dealer. He told police he allowed Sage and Brady deal out of his home.

Snyder also allegedly admitted to telling one of the witnesses there was over $14,000 worth of drugs in the garage that night, asked the witness to keep an eye out for anything suspicious, moving a handgun from a safe to outside the house after the shooting, but denied firing a gun during the incident, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Snyder also allegedly admitted Bethel and James died during attempted drug deal.

Police reviewed the video from the home.

The video showed a Chevy Impala pull up across the street from the garage. Reports say Jermon Gavin and Jesus Pedraza got out and approached the garage.

Jesus had allegedly set up a deal to purchase a large amount of meth for $10,000, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Gavin told police he knew Jesus didn't have the money.

A short time later, a white SUV pulled up and parked between the Impala and the garage. A woman got out of the SUV and went into the garage, then returned to the vehicle.

Then, Jesus walked from the garage to the Impala, according to police.

Jesus allegedly called Gavin and said he needed the drugs and was going to send in Bethel.

Soon after, Bethel ran from across the street into the garage with a handgun. Gavin, who was in the garage, ran to the Impala while shooting towards the garage, according to police.

Benito Pedraza got out of the Impala and started firing at Anton James, the driver of the white SUV, and at the people in the garage, reports said.

The video then showed Brady come out of the garage and fire at the dark colored vehicle. The white SUV then drove away, according to police.

The SUV crashed into a home near Johnson and Frederickson streets. James was found dead in the vehicle. His passenger had been shot in the head.