Jan. 4—GOSHEN — A man was sentenced Thursday in Elkhart County Superior Court 3 to 16 years for raping his stepdaughter.

Ryan Turner, 37, Middlebury, was charged with rape, sexual misconduct with a minor, strangulation, and six counts of invasion of privacy, and pleaded guilty.

Police were initially called to Turner’s home on Pine Cone Drive in Middlebury at 3:08 p.m. Oct. 28, where his stepdaughter’s mom reported that her daughter had been raped.

Her mother transported the 14-year-old girl to the St. Joseph Regional Medicinal Center for examination. During examination, the girl reported that on Oct. 24, she’d been asked by Turner to go into the master bedroom and put on an outfit he’d laid on the bed but the girl refused, and told him that he should have her mom do that.

The probable cause affidavit also indicated that she said Turner then pulled out a Taser and threatened to set it off, pointing it at her. Turner pointed to the bathroom and led her in, where he pulled out another taser and was roleplaying by the name of Donte, and asked the girl if she wanted to play a game, stating that if she ran or told anyone, she would be the last one living because he would kill everyone.

The report also states that Turner covered the girl’s eyes with a bandana, and cuffed her hands behind her back, after forcing her to undress, used a vibrator on her, forced her to perform oral sex on him, and raped her vaginally and anally.

After removing the restraints, Turner told her to shower and gets dressed.

The girl also told interviewers that Turner had sent her SnapChat messages asking sexually charged questions, and that Turner “told her this would happen if she kept misbehaving,” the probable cause affidavit indicated.

Days later, after her mother kept asking, the girl finally told her mom what had happened.

At sentencing, The victim’s mother, Amy Turner, said she didn’t believe that Turner was actually remorseful at all, despite Turner claiming during sentencing that he was, and the victim, Zoi, said a year and a half later, she’s still struggling.

“Every morning I was up, I wake up and I have to tell myself, I can do this,” she said.

Her mom said the teen has struggled with her mental health, and Zoi said at one point she stopped eating and had to teach herself to eat again. She also claimed that Turner began touching her from the age of 10 and called her names.

Turner was sentenced to 16 years at the Indiana Department of Corrections for Rape, a Level 3 Felony; 12 years for Sexual Misconduct with a Minor, a Level 4 Felony; and two and a half years on suspended on probation for Strangulation, a Level 6 Felony.

CODY OSCAR CLEMENTS

A Goshen man was tied to a murder in Fort Wayne and appeared in Circuit Court after being transferred there at the beginning of the year. Cody Oscar Clements, 23, Goshen, spent the morning awaiting new trial dates in the courtroom for charges of assisting a criminal in a murder or an A, 1, or 2.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Fort Wayne Police contacted Elkhart County following a vehicle pursuit on April 25, 2021. After the vehicle crashed and the occupants fled, they searched it and found the dismembered remains of Shane Nguyen, 55, Fort Wayne.

They also discovered a receipt from the Lowes in Goshen, which eventually led them to believe that Mathew Cramer, Jacob Carreon, and Cody Oscar Clements were all involved in the murder.

Clements told Fort Wayne police that he was picked up by the other two men and that they were picking up items, at Lowes, to help them get rid of a body and that he was given money to buy a shovel and large trash bags in the store.

Cramer, who admitted to police in an interview that he had killed Nguyen, was sentenced to life without parole in Nov. 2022 following a jury trial, on charges of murder, abuse of a corpse, and resisting law enforcement. Cramer’s defense team claimed that Cramer was homeless and living in a storage unit and that Nguyen offered him a ride and sexually assaulted him and the murder was a panicked reaction.

Police began searching for Nguyen’s van after his family said he went missing and a Silver Alert was issued. Officers spotted the van two days after the incident and tried to stop it but the driver got out and a passenger sped away in it, ultimately crashing and fleeing too.

Officers believed Carreon helped Cramer dismember Nguyen’s body after he died due to blunt force trauma, and then recruited Clements to help them gather supplies to hide the evidence, and took him back to his home in Goshen before returning to Fort Wayne.

Carreon, 22, Elkhart, pleaded guilty in July 2021 to assisting a criminal, abuse of a corpse and resisting law enforcement. He was sentenced to five years in prison, and per his plea deal, testified at Cramer’s trial.

Clements’ trial is currently scheduled for Oct. 7, with a trial status conference Sept. 12. He also has a May 2 status conference.

ROOSEVELT LEWIS Jr.

A murder trial transferred to Elkhart County Superior Court 3 had trial dates selected during Thursday’s court proceedings.

Roosevelt Lewis Jr., 39, is accused of the murder Tom Moser III Sept. 21. Elkhart County Circuit Court Judge Michael Christofeno recused himself for involvement in a previous case in 2002, wherein Roosevelt was found guilty of attempted murder in December.

The call came in at 3:24 a.m. for sounds of gunfire at 516 S. Fifth St., Elkhart, and a man running from the scene. Police found Lewis Roosevelt nearby in clothing matching the original witness description, which was jeans and a sweatshirt, and attempted to stop him, but he refused and was tased, according to court records. Police said they also found the body of Moser, who appeared to have been shot numerous times, in the entryway of the apartment home at 516 S. Fifth St.

Lewis was charged with murder, unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, criminal recklessness, intimidation, and resisting law enforcement.

Lewis’ jury trial is scheduled for Aug. 12, with a trial status conference Aug. 1, and a status conference May 16.

JUAN J. TOSCANO RAMIREZ

Attorney Thomas Dickson explained during Elkhart County Circuit Court that Juan J. Toscano Ramirez, 26, had initially turned down the opportunity to have a bond hearing because he didn’t realize he had been assigned a public defender and became suspicious when contacted.

Toscano Ramirez is accused of robbery, kidnapping, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful use of body armor, possession of methamphetamine, and resisting law enforcement.

The victim told police that he was with Josue Garcia Miranda at his house on Burr Street for a time and left. Garcia Miranda was acting erratic so he asked Garcia Miranda to drop him off at a gas station nearby, and Garcia Miranda said he could stop by later, instead pulling into his own house on Franklin Street.

Garcia Miranda told him to go inside before him, which the victim said he found unusual since he had never actually been there before and didn’t know anyone there. A man later identified through active warrant as Juan Toscano Ramirez told him to go upstairs and the three went upstairs together.

The two men then asked the victim where the gun was, and the victim told them he didn’t know what they were talking about. The two men then allegedly began beating him with a wooden stick and a gun, while the victim continued to tell them he didn’t know what gun they were talking about.

Toscano Ramirez, the victim said, told him to empty his pockets and the victim took out his wallet and gave it to them, and then they walked him downstairs, and sat him down, where more men, including a man named “Dan,” continued to ask him where the gun was and he continued to tell them he didn’t know, but this time mentioned he did know someone with a gun.

The victim then said that Garcia Miranda and Toscano Ramirez told him to get into the car, that they were going to get that gun, and that they would shoot him if he tried to flee or get help. They reportedly walked him at gunpoint to the car. The victim told Garcia Miranda that the gun was at a friend’s house on Moorhouse Avenue.

When they arrived at the home, the victim’s friend’s grandma answered the door and the victim told her to call the police. She yelled something about a gun and the victim said it spooked the two men, who then left in the car and the victim got a ride from the friend’s home to the ER to make the report. He identified the men through a lineup.

Police found what appeared to be blood in the vehicle identified by the victim and owned by Garcia Miranda via search warrant. They also executed a search warrant on the home in the 700 block of Franklin Street, wherein officers say it appeared that a man named Daniel Davis took his own life during a standoff with SWAT.

Detectives recovered a DVR during the search of the home, and said they found a recording with Garcia Miranda, Toscano Ramirez, and the victim, when the two entered the home, and later when they left and the victim was bloodied up and being escorted out presumably by gunpoint.

Garcia Miranda was arrested following an attempt to visit the victim’s home. Police arrested him at a nearby traffic stop on Nov. 21. Toscano Ramirez was arrested Dec. 2.

Toscano Ramirez’s hired attorney Dickson also asked for a translator to be prepared for Toscano Ramirez in case of trial, stating that while he’s fluent in English, it’s not his first language, and the complexity of a trial could make the language barrier problematic. His bond hearing is scheduled for Feb. 1.

KATELYNN J. CLARKA woman charged with neglect received two years probation via plea bargain after police allegedly found her children in the front yard without supervision.

Katelynn J. Clark is charged with three counts of Neglect of a Dependent, a Level 6 Felony; Possession of marijuana, and Possession of Paraphernalia from the incident dating back to May 30.

An Elkhart County deputy said he was driving on York Hills Drive when he saw two small children in the front yard of a home unsupervised with the front door wide open and two dogs running loose. Walking up to the children, neither of which could speak yet, he found that the younger one had a very saggy diaper and what he believed to be fecal matter all over his arms, hands, legs, and face, and was digging into his diaper as if it was irritating him. The other child he also noted was quite dirty and had fecal matter running down his leg.

The officer called for backup and learned that another officer was already working with the parents on a missing grandparent case, and he’d been recovered about two hours prior. The family of five had been living at the home with the father’s parents for about two months.

When officers entered the home, they finally found the father’s mother, Rebecca Creager, sleeping in bed next to another child. She told police she didn’t know the kids were outside but didn’t seem to find it very considering, police said. Another officer found marijuana on the bedroom dresser and police got a search warrant.

With the search warrant, officers inspected the home and found it to be full of clutter, old food, and heavy layers of dust, marijuana joints and smoking bowls throughout the home, and toilets clogged with toys and bathroom essentials.

When parents Kyle Delaney and Clark got home, Delaney told police that they’d left to go kayaking the night before, and that he didn’t know there was marijuana, which he claimed to be his mom’s, accessible to the kids, and said the home isn’t always as messy as it was that day but said he was generally not comfortable with the condition of the home. Clark said she was aware of the Creagers and also Delaney’s marijuana usage in the home.

Clark and Delaney were both incarcerated for neglect of a dependent. The children were sent to the same foster home they were sent to the last time they were removed from parental custody.

CRISTIAN A. PARADA QUINTANILLA

Elkhart County Public Defender Matthew Johnson told Elkhart County Circuit Court Judge Michael Christofeno on Thursday that while his client, Cristian Parada Quintanilla, had undergone three mental health competency evaluations, no more would be needed for now.

Parada Quintanilla, Elkhart, is accused of a burglary that took place Jan. 14. According to a probable cause affidavit, officers responded to a call for an alarm at Smokes++ in the Market Centre plaza, 4024 Elkhart Road, Goshen, and arrived to find the front door glass broken. The officer who responded to the call reported seeing an individual bending over the back side of the sales counter and went out to his vehicle to keep watch and called for backup.

As reported in the affidavit, through a translator early on, Parada Quintanilla allegedly told officers that he’d broken into the business because he wanted to get deported and that he’d committed a previous burglary at the same location Nov. 19. Officers also said they found a large gray Adidas backpack on the floor and a smaller backpack on the counter both filled with products from the store and a Louisville Slugger baseball bat on the floor near the backpack. Items in the bags totaled $3,479.

Johnson explained that when he filed for determination of competency Parada Quintanilla was in the Elkhart County Jail and not being serviced with therapies or medication but does suffer from major mental health issues.

Now that Parada Quintanilla is out of custody and participating in therapy and medication through Oaklawn, he’s doing much better. His competency evaluations found that he is currently competent, and Johnson asked to withdraw an evidentiary hearing on competency.

Parada Quintanilla acknowledged a trial date of April 15 with a trial status conference of March 21.

CALVIN D. WILSON

A man accused of burglary had a pretrial conference in Circuit Court Thursday.

Police responded to a call of a burglary in progress from an alarm company at Dollar Tree, 2200 S. Main St., Elkhart, at 3:30 a.m. Nov. 29.

Wilson, 38, was found outside wearing a black face mask, black hooded sweatshirt, and dark blue jeans. In a vehicle in the parking lot, they also found Eskarleth Campos-Carcamo.

Wilson told police that he was near the store when he heard a “pop” and decided to check it out but was stopped by police. Police noted in the probable cause affidavit that the front doors were partially open, one of the window panes next to the front door was shattered, and two shopping carts near the door and window were broken.

Surveillance footage showed Wilson in the foyer of the store at 3:23 a.m., moving merchandise away from the entry doors and pushing on the bottom panel to make entry before grabbing a shopping cart and ramming the panel with it, and also speaking to someone outside. Footage shows him eventually pushing the panel out of place using body weight and then forcing the door open before disappearing from camera view.

Campos-Carcamo told police that she and her boyfriend Wilson’s vehicle had broken down or that it had a bad battery and she was waiting in the parking lot and that Wilson was walking to find a phone to call for a tow, having pushed it from South Main Street into the parking lot to its location behind the store. When asked to start the vehicle, Campos-Carcamo started it with no issues.

The case is scheduled for jury trial on Sept. 9. The trial status conference is Aug. 15.

EDWARD J. WARREN

A man charged with counterfeiting offered a guilty plea and was sentenced during Thursday’s court proceedings. Chief Deputy Public Defender Bridgette Faulkner said the plea came without a plea agreement. She explained that Edward Warren, 43, who was a resident of Faith Mission, may have been the victim himself of a counterfeiting ring, wherein people from out of town pray on those down on their luck by offering them part of the money received from a fraudulent check if they cash that check.

Police were called First Source Bank, 2020 E. Bristol St., Elkhart, for a report of a fraudulent check at 1:21 p.m. Oct. 20. A manager at the bank told police that Warren submitted a check from First Choice Fire and Restoration, South Bend, but she contacted the company who told her they didn’t issue it and that it was fraudulent.

Warren told police outside that he’d received the check from strangers in a white Impala nearby. He told them he found it suspicious that he’d never worked for the company but there was a check with his name on it but attempted to cash it anyway because he was promised a portion of the check if he cashed it and he needed the money.

Warren said during court that the strangers took him to a hotel room and the check was made out to him. He was told that the woman who wrote the check was the daughter of the owner of the company.

“I was homeless and my ex-girlfriend was living out of her car, too,” he said. “I thought it would be a good way to get her out of the cold. I was staying at the shelter but she wasn’t… I know now that that wasn’t a call from Heaven. That was a call from the Devil.”

Officers went to the gas station where Warren told them the Impala was parked and did not find the vehicle there.

Warren served 76 days in custody and was sentenced to probation.

SEAN A. CRITCHLOW

An auto theft suspect received a new court date in Superior Court 3 Thursday.

San A. Critchlow, 30, was reported as a reckless driver near C.R. 17 and Beck Drive around 12:45 a.m. Sept. 3.

The dark colored Buick passenger car was reportedly located in the parking lot of Stacks Pancake House, 5320 Beck Dr., Elkhart. Inside, police found Critchlow. The vehicle, they noted, was reported Aug. 31 as stolen out of South Bend. Critchlow told police the vehicle belonged to a friend of his, Zack, and that he’d had it for about two days.

Critchlow later told police that he had no idea whose vehicle it was but he’d been driving it for three days and had parked at the restaurant to get some sleep in the car, because he was homeless, but asserted that he didn’t know the vehicle was stolen.

The owner of the vehicle told police that she gave Critchlow a ride from her home in Plymouth to the Social Security Office in South Bend Aug. 31 and left Critchlow in the car while it was off and parked, taking the keys inside with her, but that when she returned, the car was gone. She believed he must have taken her spare key while at her and her husband’s home a few days prior, as her husband and Critchlow were friends.

Critchlow’s jury trial is set for March 18, with a pretrial conference March 7.

Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.