FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) – A witness told investigators that a 21-year-old Fort Wayne man charged in a 2021 fatal shooting claimed the victim stole narcotics from him.

BACKGROUND: Traffic stop in northwest Fort Wayne Friday leads to arrest of 21-year-old man in connection with 2021 homicide

Jalan Xzayvior Carpenter is accused of shooting 19-year-old John Peterson.

Peterson was shot near the intersection of Vance Avenue and Reed Road.

A man who was in the car with Peterson at the time of the shooting said they were driving when the victim noticed a Chevy Tahoe behind them, according to an affidavit written by Fort Wayne Police Detective Ben MacDonald.

“Someone’s getting out,” Peterson told the driver before opening fire.

Police found 17,300 Blackout shotgun shells at the scene.

Other witnesses told police that Peterson and Carpenter were at a memorial service for someone before the shooting and nearly got into a fight, court records show. Peterson confronted Carpenter about “being from a different group of friends.

People at the party had to hold the men apart to prevent them from fighting.

Phone records linked Carpenter to the area of ​​the shooting and to a man selling a Blackout .300 rifle a month after the shooting, court records show. Undercover officers went to buy the gun from the man but were robbed.

The gun was never recovered.

Two years later, a person believed to have been involved in the robbery spoke to police about the shooting and said he was with Carpenter gambling, and the suspect brought up the shooting, court documents say. Carpenter claimed that Peterson took narcotics from him and didn’t pay, so they followed him when he left and shot him.

“I was out the window blowing that mess up,” Carpenter allegedly told the witness.

The witness told police that Carpenter and two other witnesses they spoke to were members of a group called “Ballhard.”

Carpenter is scheduled to appear in court for the first time Tuesday on a recently filed murder charge and sentence enhancement for use of a weapon in the alleged crimes.