Cass Co. judge assigned to 5 cases tied to shooting of Judge Meyer
First hearings in the case expected Wednesday. Plus, Purdue president says child care facility is waiting for new vendor, won’t be taken for other uses. University Senate rebrands DEI committee.
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CASS COUNTY JUDGE ASSIGNED TO 5 CASES TIED TO SHOOTING OF JUDGE MEYER
A Cass County judge, assigned Monday to oversee cases of five people accused of some role in the Jan. 18 shooting attack at the home of Tippecanoe Superior Court 2 Judge Steve Meyer and his wife, Kim, will hold the first hearings Wednesday in Logansport.
Cass County Superior Court 2 Judge Lisa Swaim on Monday was appointed in the attempted murder case, after Tippecanoe Circuit Judge Sean Persin asked for a special judge to be assigned. Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush signed that order Monday.
Four hearings were set, spread through Wednesday morning and afternoon in Cass County Superior Court 2, for four of the five men and women charged, according to state court officials. As of Monday night, it wasn’t clear from online dockets which of the five people charged would not appear that day, though court officials said the four that would were in custody and currently located in Indiana.
In documents filed Friday with charges, investigators say a plot to shoot and kill Meyer – one that wounded the judge and his wife, Kim, by shotgun blasts through the front door of their Lafayette home – revolved around the timing of one of the suspect’s trials in Meyer’s court.
Three men were charged with attempted murder, among other charges, including:
Raylen Ferguson, 38, of Lexington, Kentucky, is accused of knocking on the Meyers’ front door and firing shots that injured them.
Thomas Moss, 43, of Lafayette, a leader in a local outlaw motorcycle club, had been facing at trial set to start in Meyer’s court two days after the shooting, in a case where he’d been charged with nine felony counts filed in June 2024, including domestic battery, criminal recklessness, intimidation and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.
Blake Smith, 32, of Dayton, also was charged with attempted murder and other charges for his role two weeks earlier in buying the shotgun used in the crime.
Two others face lesser charges for their roles in the plot:
Amanda Milsap, 45, Lafayette, was being held on suspicion of bribery and obstruction of justice, accused of relaying an offer of $10,000 from Moss and the Vice Lord gang to a witness in Moss’ trial if they wouldn’t testify.
Zenada Greer, 61, Lexington, Kentucky, on suspicion of assisting a criminal and obstruction of justice. Investigators said Greer’s car was used in various stages before, during and after the shootings.
For the details that led to the arrests:
In a related note …
BILL FILED TO HELP PROTECT JUDGES: Reporting for The Indiana Citizen, Marilyn Odendahl had this:
As law enforcement arrested five people this week in connection with the shooting of a Tippecanoe County trial court judge, the Indiana Senate moved forward with a bill that would increase security for the state’s appellate court judges.
Senate Bill 291, authored by state Sen. Scott Baldwin, R-Noblesville, would establish a specialized court security unit for the Indiana Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals of Indiana and the Indiana Tax Court. These court marshals would attend court proceedings, provide security at events, such as judicial conferences and community outreach programs, and maintain a security system at the Statehouse, in judicial staff offices and at the homes of the justices and judges.
Presenting the bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 14, Baldwin said the court marshals “would ensure Indiana’s judges can carry out their constitutional responsibilities without fear, intimidation or disruption.”
On Thursday, the Senate amended SB 291 to protect the personal information of judges and their families from being disclosed to the public. Judges in the state and federal district courts in Indiana would be covered, along with their spouses and children who reside in the same household. The personal information that would be private includes home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, license plate numbers or other unique identifiers of a vehicle, Social Security numbers, birth or marital records, and election and campaign finance reports.
Also, the amendment makes the unlawful publication of the personal information a Class A misdemeanor.
Introducing the amendment on the Senate floor, Baldwin indicated the provision was added in response to the wounding of Tippecanoe County Superior Court Judge Steven Meyer and his wife in a shooting at their home in Lafayette on Jan. 18. The amendment passed on a voice vote.
Read the rest here: “Senate bill would bolster security for Indiana appellate judges after shooting.”
CHIANG SAYS PURDUE IS OPEN TO OTHER DAY CARE AS VENDOR PLANS TO LEAVE CENTER NEAR CAMPUS
Purdue President Mung Chiang said the university had no plans to use its Early Care and Education Center facility and grounds for other purposes, after Early Learning Indiana told parents that the Indianapolis-based company planned to consolidate its Purdue offerings to a single location.
In letters sent to parents two weeks ago, Early Learning Indiana officials said they planned to close operations at the center on Mitch Daniels Boulevard by April. Parents were told their preschoolers could instead go to Patty Jischke Early Care & Education Center on Kent Avenue, in the Purdue Research Park. They cited low enrollment as a reason.
Faculty members on the University Senate – raising questions about whether the numbers were down due to poor management or other reasons and whether Early Learning Indiana could follow through on promises that there would be space for all kids at the Patty Jischke site, given what has been reported as a community shortage of child care slots – on Monday pressed for assurances about Purdue’s role and plans on the child care front.
Chiang said the university was open to working with other companies to make use of the Purdue Early Care and Education Center, one of three child care spaces used by the university.
“We should highlight that we are not repurposing the land and the building,” Chiang said. “We will not, in any foreseeable future, repurpose it for any other use. We could, but we will not. … Purdue University will maintain the exact same level of subsidy, including the land, the building, the maintenance and everything as we have in the recent past, into the future, so it is still available as the physical resource.”
University officials said Purdue’s subsidies relieved Early Learning Indiana of $80,000 in annual operating costs.
For more on the situation facing parents at Purdue and the larger question about child care availability:
THIS AND THAT …
UNIVERSITY SENATE’S DEI COMMITTEE REBRANDS AT PURDUE: The faculty-led University Senate at Purdue on Monday followed through on moves to change the name and mission of its Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, following the university’s effort scrub those three words from as much of its structure as possible due to new state and federal laws and policies. It will now be known as the Community Connection Committee, with a stated purpose of being “concerned with matters related to the general social, cultural, intellectual and practical welfare of all students, faculty and staff of the university.” Gone is the committee’s goal to “seek to increase cultural awareness, respect, and inclusion of all groups — including traditionally underrepresented groups based on culture, ethnicity, language, gender, and/or sexual orientation status, and all others noted in Purdue’s nondiscrimination policy.”
The changed passed with no objections from member of the University Senate.
Here’s more from the conversation and debate that led to the changes: “Why University Senate is looking to rename, refocus its DEI committee at Purdue.”
In a related move: The University Senate agreed to a formal request that the university clarify plans for three campus cultural centers situated in The Island, several blocks of city land that separates the main academic campus from residence halls and more to the west. In question was confusion over the Giant Leaps Master Plan, a 50-year facilities planning concept approved by Purdue trustees in 2018, that includes a potential residence hall near Fifth and Waldron streets, on property owned by the university that includes the Asian and Asian American Resource Center, Latino Cultural Center and Native American Educational and Cultural Center. The University Senate proposal that passed Monday calls for campus administration to add the three cultural centers to any updated master facilities plan.
WEST LAFAYETTE STUDENT TRANSFER DISCUSSION THIS WEEK: The West Lafayette Community School Corp. will meet in a work session at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 29, to discuss the results of focus group conversations about the future of the district’s student transfer policy.
Earlier this month, the school board agreed to allow transfer students from Tippecanoe School Corp. who are already enrolled at West Side to remain for the 2026-27 school year. But the school board held off on a final vote until February on a similar proposal to clear the way for families looking to transfer their students into West Lafayette schools for the first time for the 2026-27 academic year. The moves came as the school board sorts through recent surveys; prepares for a series of parent, teacher and patron focus groups scheduled this week; and an expected consultant’s report after that in an ongoing debate over the district’s policy in the wake of changes in state law.
Thursday’s work session will be at the district’s central offices, 3061 Benton St.
Read more about what’s at stake here:
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