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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA northwest Indiana man has been convicted in the killings of two teenagers who were shot to death last year during a drug-related armed robbery.
A Porter County jury found Connor Kerner, 19, guilty Thursday of two counts each of murder and murder in perpetration of a robbery, and other charges. A judge set Kerner’s sentencing for Dec. 8.
The Valparaiso man had allegedly confessed to a then-girlfriend that he had killed 18-year-old Thomas Grill of Cedar Lake and 19-year-old Molley Lanham of St. John in February 2019 in the attached garage of his maternal grandparents’ Hebron-area home.
Porter County Deputy Prosecutor Chris Hammer reminded jurors during closing arguments that Kerner reportedly told his then-girlfriend, “I did something bad. I killed someone and I killed an innocent girl.”
Hammer said the target in the armed robbery that led to the killings was $20,000 to $50,000 worth of THC cartridges, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported.
Kerner’s defense attorneys did not present any evidence on Hammer’s behalf, but Indianapolis-based attorney James Voyles tried to shift the blame during closing arguments to Hammer’s co-defendant, John Silva II, 20.
The Hamlet man is charged with two counts each of murder and robbery resulting in serious bodily injury, according to court records.
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