Man who shot into neighbor’s house loses appeal of convictions, sentence

(IL file photo)

A man who shot a gun into his neighbor’s house has failed in his attempt to convince the Court of Appeals of Indiana to overturn his convictions or five-year sentence.

According to court records, on the evening of May 23, 2021, Neurin Barraza had a cookout in the backyard of her home in Indianapolis.

After the cookout, around 10 p.m., Barraza went back outside and saw a man, later identified as her next-door neighbor, Ricky Wilson, lying on the ground.

Barraza asked Wilson who he was, but Wilson was unresponsive.

When Wilson stood up, she called for her sister to bring a gun. Several members of Barraza’s family came outside, armed with guns. Wilson stated, “Don’t shoot,” and identified himself to Barraza as her “neighbor, Ricky.”

Wilson held a firearm in one hand and his phone in the other. He claimed that he had followed someone from his through Barraza’s yard and into the yard of Barraza’s neighbor on the other side.

Barraza and her family spent several minutes attempting to find the person but were unsuccessful.

At around 2:30 a.m., Barraza received a telephone call from Wilson, who informed her that people were outside both of their homes.

Barraza looked outside and saw no one, so she went back to bed. Wilson called her again and said that there were 25 people surrounding their homes.

Meanwhile, starting shortly before midnight, Wilson had been repeatedly calling 911, ultimately calling 14 times.

At around 10 a.m., Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Officer Ryan Duell responded to yet another 911 call from Wilson, this time for a burglary in progress.

When Duell arrived at Wilson’s home, Wilson told him that someone was inside the garage. Duell checked the garage but found no one there.

Noting that Wilson had made repeated calls to 911 and made apparently unfounded claims, Duell requested someone from IMPD’s mobile crisis team, known as “MCAT,” to come and talk with Wilson.

MCAT Detective Robert Robinson came to Wilson’s home to speak with him. Robinson offered to refer Wilson to mental health services, but Wilson declined.

While the police were still speaking with Wilson, Barraza was awakened by her sister yelling that someone had fired a bullet into the house. Barraza’s sister found a 9mm bullet lodged in a box in the laundry room.

Upon further investigation, Barraza and her sister found a bullet hole in the wall of the bathroom next to the laundry room and a bullet hole in the bathroom door. Barraza went outside and saw a bullet hole in the exterior wall of her house on the side that faced Wilson’s house.

Barraza approached Robinson and informed him of the bullet hole in her wall.

Robinson called for additional officers. When they arrived, Wilson permitted the police to search his house.

The police did not locate a firearm, but when they patted Wilson down, they found a spent 9mm shell casing in his pocket. The police also learned that Wilson was serving a sentence on home detention.

The state subsequently charged Wilson with possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon as a Level 4 felony, criminal recklessness as a Level 5 felony, escape as a Level 6 felony, possession of cocaine as a Level 6 felony, unlawful possession of a firearm by a domestic batterer as a Class A misdemeanor and possession of paraphernalia as a Class C misdemeanor.

A jury trial was held in Marion Superior Court on Aug. 2, 2022.

The jury found Wilson guilty of escape and possession of cocaine and acquitted him of possession of paraphernalia but was unable to reach a verdict on the remaining counts.

On Oct. 18, 2022, Wilson agreed to plead guilty to criminal recklessness in exchange for the state dismissing the counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon and unlawful possession of a firearm by a domestic batterer.

The trial court sentenced Wilson to an aggregate sentence of five years, with four years executed and one year suspended to probation. It also sentenced Wilson to concurrent one-year sentences on the escape and possession of cocaine convictions, both of which were suspended to probation.

Wilson appealed and claimed the state failed to present sufficient evidence to support his convictions. He also argued his sentence was inappropriate.

The Court of Appeals disagreed. Judge Elizabeth Tavitas wrote the opinion for the appellate court.

On appeal, Wilson argued that the state failed to prove he violated a home detention order because “the State presented no evidence that a valid home detention order was ever issued against Wilson.”

But according to Tavitas, there was evidence that Wilson was on home detention at the time of the new offenses.

“Although it may have been preferable for the State to introduce the home detention order itself into evidence, we are unwilling to say that the failure to do so was fatal to the State’s case,” Tavitas wrote.

There was also sufficient evidence that Wilson violated the terms of his home detention order by committing a new crime, Tavitas continued.

Further, the appellate court disagreed with Wilson’s claim that there was insufficient evidence that he constructively possessed the cocaine found in his house.

But the COA also disagreed with the state’s contention that Wilson waived his right to appeal his sentence.

“The language in Wilson’s plea agreement does not state that he waived the right to appeal at all. It merely indicates that Wilson agreed that any sentence imposed would be appropriate,” Tavitas wrote.

Finally, the appellate court found Wilson’s sentence was appropriate in light of the serious nature of his offenses and his poor character.

Wilson’s criminal history extends to the 1970s and includes 13 convictions, eight of which were felonies, Tavitas noted, adding that nothing about the nature of his crimes warranted a revision of his sentence.

“While inside a house containing cocaine and drug paraphernalia, and under the apparent influence of drugs, Wilson shot a firearm through his window and into his neighbor’s home — a home that he knew several people occupied,” she wrote. “Although only one bullet pierced Barraza’s home, Wilson fired at least three shots.”

Judges L. Mark Bailey and Dana Kenworthy concurred in Ricky L. Wilson v. State of Indiana, 22A-CR-2837.