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A two-year investigation recently culminated in the arrest of 24-year-old Kenron Laing of Crown Point, Indiana. Laing was arrested on a warrant in connection with the 2022 murder of Gildardo Garcia Salinas, 39, in northern Owen County.

Detectives from the Indiana State Police (ISP) Bloomington Post traveled to Fort Liberty, northwest of Fayetteville, North Carolina on Nov. 14 where they were joined by Army Criminal Investigation Division agents in arresting Laing, who authorities say was taken into custody without incident.

Fort Liberty, formerly known as Fort Bragg, is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with over 52,000 military personnel.

According to an article published in the Nov. 20, 2024 edition of Stars and Stripes, a daily newspaper reporting on matters concerning members of the United States Armed Forces, Laing enlisted in the Army in August 2023, about 10 months after Salinas was killed.

Private First Class Laing was identified by Stars and Stripes as a petroleum supply specialist assigned to the 82nd Airborne’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team.

After waiving extradition, Laing was transported from the Cumberland County Jail where he had been awaiting extradition to Owen County to stand trial.

An initial hearing was held on Nov. 21, where Owen County Prosecutor Benjamin Kim said Laing was advised of the charges against him and his constitutional rights as an accused facing criminal charges.

A public defender was appointed by the court to represent Laing, who remains in custody without bond at the Owen County Security Center pending a trial by jury, which is slated to begin on Aug. 11, 2025.

Fatal shooting

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case by ISP Detective Ian Matthews, authorities from the state police were contacted on Nov. 2, 2022 to initiate an investigation following the shooting death of Salinas. The shooting happened at Salinas’ residence in the area of North Cataract Road and U.S. 231.

Authorities with the Owen County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) were first on the scene, having been notified via a 911 phone call received at approximately 8:25 p.m., the probable cause affidavit indicates. The caller reported gunshots had been fired and a male had been shot. Police arrived shortly thereafter to find Salinas deceased outside of his home from apparent gunshot wounds.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Salinas, his wife Brandy Pocasangre, and her 14-year-old daughter were inside the home when they heard noise coming from the kitchen door on the home’s east side.

“She stated that after hearing the noise they realized that a black male was attempting to push his way into the door, prompting (Salinas) to grab his shotgun that was nearby in the kitchen, holding it horizontally across his chest to block the male from coming inside,” the probable cause affidavit notes.

Salinas was reportedly able to “nudge” the intruder outside the door, with the door closing behind them. Once outside, the probable cause affidavit details how Salinas engaged in what his wife later advised sounded like a “struggle or fight
on or near the outside porch.”

Fearful, Pocasangre told authorities how she waited for a short time before she “yelled from inside the home and walked toward the east side door as she heard numerous gunshots,” the probable cause affidavit explains. Now armed with a handgun that had been retrieved from inside the home by her daughter, Pocasangre reportedly opened the door and saw the same black male that her husband had confronted at the door fleeing on foot from the south side steps of the porch to an awaiting vehicle parked to the north of the home.

The victim’s wife later described the shooter to authorities as a “black male wearing black/dark clothing with a hoodie, balaclava-style mask covering his chin area, skinny, dark complexion, wide nose, black hair in front with fuzzy braids or Afro, possible whiskers, ‘peach fuzz’ on face.” He appeared to be in his early to mid-20s, she told police, and stood approximately six feet tall.

Although the suspect had been wearing what appeared to be a balaclava-style mask when he initially confronted her husband at the door, Pocasangre described to authorities how it was “pulled down below his chin, allowing her to see his full face.”

She also recounted to authorities how she attended to her injured husband after the vehicle fled, noticing he had a “gunshot wound to the upper forehead and additional gunshot wounds around his chest and abdomen,” according to the probable cause affidavit.

Pocasangre attempted to administer CPR and lifesaving measures until
authorities arrived, the probable cause affidavit reveals, while also checking on the welfare of her daughter and instructing her to call 911 for help.

When deputies arrived on the scene, they encountered Salinas laying in the grass near the east side door of the home. The injured man was still moving, the probable cause affidavit details, which prompted authorities to call for emergency medical technicians (EMT), who upon arrival also attempted lifesaving measures before Salinas succumbed to his injuries. He was later pronounced deceased at the scene.

Phones recovered at scene

During the investigation that followed, detectives learned from Pocasangre how Salinas had discovered an abandoned black bag in the courtyard of an Indianapolis-area motel. Salinas was employed by a landscaping company, authorities would discover, and had been on the hotel grounds that day with a landscaping crew.

Contained inside the bag were drugs and drug paraphernalia, according to the statement given to authorities by Pocasangre, along with an iPhone. She told authorities how her husband had sent her a picture of the motel courtyard and showed her a video of him “stomping out the drugs,” stating to her that the drugs could hurt someone, “especially a child.”

Salinas brought the bag and iPhone home with him after leaving work later that day, according to the probable cause affidavit, showing his wife the iPhone and its case before reportedly telling her he planned to return the phone to his workplace the next day.

Further details provided by Pocasangre would lead authorities to believe the suspect, later identified as Kenron Laing, had attempted to enter the home after tracking the phone to the couple’s northern Owen County residence.

In total, two discarded iPhones would be discovered at the scene. The first was located in a gravel area, the probable cause affidavit indicates, approximately 15 to 20 feet east of the victim’s body. Identified as a black iPhone housed in a clear case, the phone appeared to authorities to have been “wiped” or factory reset. Although the screen read “The iPhone has been locked,” an associated Gmail account would reportedly help police determine the phone belonged to Laing.

According to the probable cause affidavit, authorities with the ISP Cyber Crimes Unit were able to uncover identifying information from the phone which was used to gather subscriber information and records from both Apple and AT&T. The subscriber of the phone and associated service, authorities would discover, was listed as “Mr. Kenron Laing.”

The second phone, described as a dark-colored iPhone housed in an orange, clear case was recovered by authorities after it was spotted by Pocasangre after she had moved Salinas’ truck from where it had been parked in the couple’s driveway. This was the same phone, Pocasangre advised authorities, that Salinas brought home with him that day, along with the bag in which it had been found. Salinas had shown her the phone and its case, the probable cause affidavit recounts, while the two of them had been standing in the driveway.

Following the discovery, the victim’s wife reportedly advised police how she felt the phone had possibly “been tracked” by the individual who ultimately killed her husband.

The culminating investigation led authorities to conclude both phones belonged to Laing, the probable cause affidavit details, with police making the connection through verified phone numbers and email addresses.

Murder weapon

Through a series of interviews and surveillance video, authorities were also able to determine that Laing had been staying at the Indianapolis-area motel with his sister, identified in the probable cause affidavit as Kennisha Laing, then age 20. Police later applied for and were granted a search warrant for the AT&T cell phone records associated with Kennisha’s phone, discovering that it too had traveled a similar path as Kenron Laing’s cell phone from the motel to the area of the crime scene on the date and time of the murder.

The investigation would ultimately take an even deadlier turn when on July 28, 2023, authorities learned Kennisha Laing had been booked into jail in Cook County, Illinois on charges of first-degree murder.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed in the case against her brother, Kenron, Kennisha Laing reportedly shot and killed a 16-year-old juvenile female at a hotel in South Holland, Illinois, before barricading herself in the room and eventually being arrested.

Once in police custody, authorities say she described the revolver handgun she used in the crime, identified as a Taurus model 856 “38 Special +P,” as belonging to her brother, Kenron Laing.

Two fired bullets collected from the many fired by the Illinois State Police Laboratory during their investigation of the firearm were later requested and obtained by local authorities. Those bullets, the probable cause affidavit advises, were tested by the Indiana State Police Evansville Laboratory for comparison against a bullet retrieved from the spine of Salinas during an autopsy conducted on Nov. 4, 2022 at Terre Haute Regional Hospital.

The test, authorities say, identified the two items as having been “fired in the same firearm.”

The case remains under investigation, and Owen County Prosecutor Benjamin Kim has issued a reminder that all persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Last month, the Owen County Board of Commissioners voted to approve the same contract for county attorney services – almost.

At the first meeting of the month, Board President Gary Burton brought the topic up, as the current contract ends at the end of 2024.

“We cannot go into a new business year with no county counsel, and I mean that by a county attorney,” Burton said, acknowledging that there would be new commissioners on the board. “We cannot start a new year without legal counsel for reorganization.”

Except that’s not true.

Despite it being common sense and best practice, Indiana law doesn’t require that county commissioners have an attorney. Rather, Indiana Code 36-2-2-30 states, “The executive may employ and fix the compensation of an attorney to represent and advise the executive.”

It provides the same for county councils in Indiana Code 36-2-3-10.

Burton continued.

“With that being said, it is a two-year agreement, same as it’s been for the last several years. The pay rate is the same for 2025,” he said. “There is a 2026, five percent increase which would be discussed at budget hearings. Other than that the agreement is the same as it was when we signed this to bring Dana [Kerr, the current county attorney] on.”

Except it wasn’t.

The new contract provided a clause requiring payment for the remainder of the year’s annual fee, or $160,000, if the contract is terminated by the county. This includes if the two incoming commissioners, Sam Hobbs and David Risk, take official action to terminate the contract at the initial January meeting. The two newcomers would have a 2-1 majority over the only incumbent commissioner, Burton.

“The County recognizes that Attorney has given up the vast majority of his clients to serve the County and that, as a solo practitioner, Attorney will need sufficient time to rebuild the Attorney’s practice,” the contract reads. “Therefore, the annual fee is determined to be earned on the first day of the year and any termination by the County that becomes effective before the expiration of this agreement, County shall pay any balance due on the annual fee.”

“I don’t feel that it’s my responsibility to determine who is going to be counsel in the future,” current commissioner Joel Lowe said, acknowledging that the board needed counsel at the start of the year.

Commissioner Bob Curry moved to approve the contract, and Lowe seconded the motion. The motion passed 2-1, with Lowe abstaining.

Except that wasn’t the end.

At their next meeting two weeks later, the topic came up again following comments and questions from citizen Allan McBride.

Lowe clarified why he abstained.

“This is based on my opinion, my thoughts and my feelings, not personal. I didn’t feel it was the business of the two commissioners leaving the position to have any say as to who was going to represent [the Board of Commissioners] into the new administration,” Lowe said before adding, “I personally looked at the contracts, and they were stated as being the same as last year. They were not the same.”

Lowe held up copies of the contract.

He added that he had “issues with the way that our county attorney has conducted business with the county.”

“I believe that our attorney was placed in positions that he didn't need to be placed into, morally and ethically,” Lowe said.

Lowe claimed that he had shared with Curry and Burton that he was not on board with the contract.

“I’m an individual commissioner. I’m allowed to think and respond how I see fit. That’s why I abstained,” he said.

Except Lowe’s actions inadvertently and unintentionally halted the contract, possibly making it null and void.

Lowe signed the contract “when I should not have in confusion,” he said.

“I didn't list my signature as a nay, yay or abstained. I signed it. Owen County Auditor Sheila Reeves will not attest that contract. She’s told me so. The document’s no good,” Lowe said. “These gentlemen have the right to bring forth a new contract, most certainly they will. But I don't stand on the fact that I have any business dictating who is going to be the attorney for the new incoming executive body. It’s not my place. “

He continued.

“I was misled to believe that we have to have an attorney, or that the board of commissioners of Owen County have to have an attorney present the first day, the first meeting. I have yet to find any, and Dana, you're welcome to provide it to me if you've got it, any legal documentation, saying anything of that sort. I was misled to believe that.”

Hobbs said that he “isn’t there to run anyone out,” but affirmed that it is something that should be addressed with the new board.

“I’ve spoken to you,” Lowe said. “I’ve talked about an easy transition. My thoughts, [on] how I wanted to see the rest of the year go was to deal with the on-hand emergencies and daily business. I surely didn't need to see or anticipate ordinances, resolutions, contracts shoved through.”

Lowe also pointed to the potential conflict of interest created by Kerr writing a new contract that pertains to his legal services.

Curry stated that he thought that Lowe agreed with the contract.

Burton said that a 30-day extension of the current contract that is set to expire at the end of December is feasible. He added that in the six years he has served on the board, there has been three different sets of commissioners.

“Whatever contracts were in place never got changed, they just rolled over,” Burton said. “Now if you want to make that decision once the new board is established, that makes sense, but I don’t know that it’s good sense not to have an attorney because everything we do here, [there] could be legal ramifications if the wrong decision is made.”

Lowe then added how he hopes the next board will address the matter.

“I want to make sure that Mr. Kerr has the appropriate time to establish himself,” Lowe said. “And I'm just going to say it’s poor human behavior to throw somebody onto the street so I think that’s a serious consideration. I would hate to be sitting here and asked to leave a job with no pay, no benefits… We don't just throw people out on the street.”

Hobbs pointed out that there is a current contract, which has a 30-day notice provided to terminate it.

Burton said they would honor the old contract.

“I’ll be honest with you, It sounds to me like you're saying there's a lot of dishonesty and…” McBride began before being interrupted by all three commissioners who spoke over one another.

“Listen…” Lowe started.

“No,” Curry said.

“There’s been none, zero,” Burton said.

Except when the contract was presented, it was said that it was the same as the previous contract, aside from a possible rate increase for 2026.

Hobbs asked the board to clarify that they are rescinding the contract and extending the current contract for 30 days.

Ultimately, the board unanimously rescinded the new contract, which Lowe said he believes is null and void because Reeves will not attest to it with his signature.

With entry lines nearly reaching the back door of Owen Valley High School, approximately 400 concerned citizens packed the OVHS Auditorium and provided two hours worth of comment concerning the draft Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) set before the Owen County Plan Commission.

A UDO is a local policy instrument that combines zoning, subdivision and other regulations into a single document.

More than 25 individuals signed up to provide public comment, at the Oct. 22 meeting, with each comment being against the UDO in general or the current draft of the document.

The meeting followed an Oct. 6 open house held at the Owen County Courthouse.

“This UDO document that we have before us is a draft. I don’t know if that was ever made clear to everyone, but a draft is a document that’s in progress, and we will edit it as needed,” Plan Commission President Norm Warner said. “We already have planning and zoning. It was implemented in 2002. I don’t know how many folks knew that this UDO is an update to those documents. There are parts of the UDO that bring us into compliance with state statute. The rest can be changed to fit our needs.”

Warner continued providing background information at the start of the meeting.

“The only way the zoning on your property can be changed is if you come to the planning commission and you ask for it to be changed. These documents don’t do any of that,” he said.

He noted that the plan commission is an advisory board. As such, the commission can choose to make a favorable, unfavorable or no recommendation before the matter goes to the county commissioners.

“No one on the steering committee or the planning commission sitting up here wrote a single word of this document. This was done by a consultant with input from the steering committee. The problem with that is due to the times of the meetings, which was right in the center of the day, I work a job, and most of the people up here do as well. I made three out of 10 meetings,” Warner said. “No decision on this thing will be made tonight or any time in the near future by this commission, until we have time to go through it [and] document [changes] chapter by chapter.”

He added,  “What we do not want to do is get in a hurry here at the end and get stuff that we do not want.”

He proposed creating a subcommittee or steering committee set by the Plan Commission to act as a working group to review and edit the draft UDO.

“And if it takes a year, it takes a year. If it takes 16 or 18 months, it takes 16 or 18 months. There is no hurry. So if you think we’re going to shove it through, that’s not the case. Won’t let it happen, not as long as I’m sitting here anyway,” Warner said.

Plan Commission member Bill Purcell shared the attendance of the various steering committee members for the UDO and pointed out again that the meetings were held during the middle of the day.

“Please be kind to those people because they were doing their best,” Purcell said.

It was determined that Purcell would chair the subcommittee.

Warner began the public comment period by reading a statement from former sheriff and commissioner-elect Sam Hobbs.

“To the people of Owen County, as your commissioner-elect for 2025, I encourage everyone to just take a deep breath and relax,” Warner read on Hobbs’ behalf. “I believe we need to regroup and sit down with the people of Owen County to establish what is in the best interest of the people of Owen County. The draft needs to be dissected, and we, the people need to address each and every chapter slowly and take as much time as needed to establish what’s best for the citizens of Owen County… I will not, as your commissioner-elect, move forward with this current draft until it is meticulously and thoroughly examined and resolved.”

Members of the public had up to three minutes to speak.

Several of the initial comments centered around not wanting a UDO at all, and many of the comments criticized the Plan Commission.

“The planning and zoning board here, they are not your punching bag for today. They were handed this by another entity. It is not them that this stuff is for. It’s not them that will approve it. They are here to make adjustments for it and send it to the commissioners for approval or denial. It’s your commissioners that you need to be in an uproar with,” County Council candidate Joe Frye said. “If we send something back, and we say we don’t want it, then what you’re going to get is what’s already there. So we’ve got to comb through it. We’ve got to fix it.”

One member of the public requested that footnotes are included to indicate what the changes are, what the previous zoning law dictated and whether or not it is based on state statute.

Commissioner candidate William Jennings also spoke. He said that the UDO would never pass with him on the board.

“I call this meeting adjourned. I think we ought to adjourn because 90 percent of the people here do not want it,” he said, recommending that the Plan Commission vote to not recommend the UDO that night.

County Council President Polly Chesser, who is seeking re-election this year, spoke up from the audience.

“You do not want this going to the commissioners right now. I promise you, because they don't have to take [the Plan Commission’s] recommendation. If they sent this to the commissioners right now, the current commissioners that are sitting on there, I guarantee would pass this, disregarding whatever they said,” Chesser said. “What they’re doing, slowing it down until after the first of the year is exactly what needs to be done.”

Resident Will Daubenspeck spoke about the UDO, citing the potential for growth both along the I-70 corridor and State Road 46. He said he experienced the creation of a UDO in Hamilton County years ago and that it was part of why he moved to Owen County in the first place.

“This is your chance to make a stand properly to protect yourself,” he said. “If you don’t put the right things in this UDO, you’re gong to be wishing you would’ve… Everyone’s wanting to fight against it. These people up here will help you put in what needs to be put into it to protect yourself and your property. So this meeting should be more about things that you don’t want in it versus we don’t want a UDO. I’m telling you, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’ve lived it. That’s the reason I moved to Owen County…I don’t think those people standing up there really want to be talking about this right now, but I’m going to tell you, if you don’t put regulation in to control growth, you will be sorry. I’ve seen it.”

Resident Chris Carey also spoke on the matter.

“What we really need to keep in mind, I know you guys don’t have any power to really do anything, except for the commissioner [Bob Curry who sits on the plan commission], and the other commissioners and whoever else is involved with bringing this in and sticking it in our laps, if they’re not going to show up and allow us to voice our opinions, we need to take it to them,” he said. “Find their addresses, their phone numbers, their emails and just light it up and tell them what we think, and don’t let up. I mean, we need these people to understand this is our county, they work for us, they’re our employees, and we can’t just go making these decisions willy-nilly.”

Commissioner candidate Dave Risk also spoke on the matter. He commented on the Enabling Act and what is and is not legally required of the county.

“There’s a structure already in place in Indiana code for ordinances,” he said. “I have verified we are not required to have a UDO in Owen County.”

He added, “The purpose of a UDO is to combine the various series of local ordinances into one document.”

Chesser then took her three minutes to speak.

“These people have nothing to do with getting this done under the radar. It was not them. They’re doing exactly what they need to be doing. They’re slowing this down until we get our new commissioners in because like I was trying to say, if they pass this right now… and said no we don’t want this, the commissioners can still say, ‘We don’t care what you say. We want it anyway.’ So the fact that they are slowing this down and getting your input and listening to all of you, that’s what needs to be done. That’s what should have been done in the first place,” Chesser said.

She added that the steering committee was filled with good people but that the daytime meetings meant they were not always there and understandably so.

“Those people on the committee are going to listen to their neighbors, they’re going to take out the crap, and they’re going to protect you. So the fact that they're doing it this way is awesome, and that’s the way it should have been done,” Chesser said before encouraging people to stay engaged both with this issue and other county government matters.

The Plan Commission will meet again at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 19. Warner said that the OVHS auditorium would not be available but that he would look into reserving space at Owen Valley Middle School.

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A Gosport home was destroyed by a fast-moving fire that broke out around 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 24.

The first wave of firefighters and emergency personnel arrived on the scene a short time later to find heavy smoke billowing from the roof and flames engulfing the front porch of the home at 246 E. South St.

Homeowner Bryan Rogers was at home when the fire broke out and was reportedly unharmed, declining medical treatment at the scene from the Owen County Emergency Medical Service.

The American Red Cross was later contacted to help meet Rogers’ immediate emergency needs.

According to the Gosport Volunteer Fire Department, a cause for the fire was undetermined.

Firefighters estimated around 30,000 gallons of water was used to battle the morning blaze.

The Gosport VFD received mutual aid from the Owen Valley Fire Territory, Bean Blossom Township-Stinesville VFD, Owen County Sheriff’s Department and the Owen County EMS.

Fire personnel were called back to the scene around 12:30 p.m. where they were able to quickly squelch the rekindled debris at the home, located on the southwest corner of East South and South Second streets.