A Gary man got a four-year split sentence Friday after signing a plea deal for heading to his ex-girlfriend’s home, opening fire in her basement, and killing a man who had stayed the night with her and been asleep.
Jerrell “Rell” Harris, 39, would serve one year in the Indiana Department of Corrections, two years in Lake County Community Corrections, and one year on probation.
He pleaded guilty on Feb. 9, 2024, to reckless homicide, a Level 5 felony. He faced up to six years. He was originally charged with murder, burglary and domestic battery in the Jan. 6, 2020, shooting death of Wydallas “TJ” Tobar, 37, of Gary.
Deputy Prosecutor Infinity Westberg said lack of witness cooperation “crippled” the case.
Mia Tobar, now 22, his eldest daughter, said her father died halfway through her senior year in high school at Thea Bowman Leadership Academy.
She prayed for her dad to get the justice he deserved, she said. She couldn’t understand why problems had to be solved by violence. Without the shooting, he could have lived a regular life.
Was it worth it?
“Was it worth your friends,” she asked Harris. “Was it worth his life? Was it worth my sanity?”
“I will never let him die,” she said. “He will live through me.”
Earlier, Tammie Lomax, Tobar’s mother, said she was a teen mom and he was her first child. They had just reconnected within the last 15 years. She had plans that summer to meet the rest of his five kids and spend time with them.
“I just want to know why you wanted him dead,” she asked Harris.
Westberg told Judge Samuel Cappas there was a kid in the home during the shooting.
Harris had 12 police contacts and two misdemeanor convictions. He had pending criminal cases for child abuse, resisting law enforcement and domestic battery, she said.
Court records show earlier that day, the woman sent provocative texts and picture messages to Harris before he showed.
Sleeping, Wydallas Tobar was in a “helpless state,” a “completely innocent victim,” Westberg said. The suffering of his family and friends was “palpable.”
She asked for six years in prison.
Defense lawyer Scott King said there was no dispute Tobar was an “innocent victim.”
Harris’ grandfather died that day. The family had been drinking, which aggravated his state of mind, the lawyer said. The woman sent a “barrage” of texts and wanted a “confrontation to occur,” he alleged. Other people in the house didn’t see what happened but heard the shots, he said.
King couldn’t say if Tobar ever knew about the texts. He asked Cappas to “evaluate the case for what it is.”
Harris apologized to Tobar’s family.
“It was senseless,” he said, and “wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Cappas told the family there was “no magic number” for a sentence that would lessen their suffering or grief. As he gave the sentence, a couple of Tobar’s loved ones left the courtroom.
After the hearing, Mia Tobar said her dad was a DJ, a “good guy” who worked under the name “Dallas Prime.” He was laid back and had good energy — a “hippie,” she said. She loved to dance and got that musical side from him.
His DJ sets were “lit” and he got everyone “turnt up” to help them forget about a “bad workday,” she said.
Had he lived, he may have accepted Harris’ apology, she said.
The charging affidavit filed in May 2020 shows Gary Police responded on Jan. 6, 2020, to the 600 block of W. 19th Avenue on an “extremely cold” night. Tobar was found on the home’s rear step.
The woman told police Harris kicked open the back door.
“What are you doing,” she said. Harris pushed her down the stairs.
Harris and Tobar appeared to struggle before a shot went off.
“Why, man,” Tobar asked before he started running up the stairs. Harris opened fire again.
Court documents state Harris fired “wildly” to “scare” him. Tobar was shot in the shoulder, head and buttocks, the plea deal states.
The woman’s son, a boy, ran out the front door when the shooting started. Police later found him a block away at Harris’ home, who he considered like a father. The woman and her other adult son also fled when Harris opened fire, the affidavit states.
Harris drove off in a gold or bronze Cadillac. He was arrested in May 2020 in Milwaukee.
mcolias@post-trib.com
