GARY, Indiana – A 21-year-old man from Gary, Indiana, is facing murder charges in connection with the shooting death of 13-year-old Orie Dodson. Elijah Caleb Porter has been charged with murder, as well as firearm and criminal gang enhancements. Last August, two other individuals, Dahvee Brunson and Kriston Barbee, Jr., both 18 and from Gary, also faced similar charges, according to court records.
If convicted at trial, each defendant could face up to 150 years in prison. The shooting was allegedly gang-motivated, with investigators claiming that Porter, Brunson, and Barbee conducted a drive-by shooting of Dodson in front of Power & Light Church on February 15, 2023. The probable cause affidavit alleges that the three men were all members of the 49th Avenue Boys gang, and the motive behind the shooting was Dodson’s disrespect towards a gang member who was killed in 2019.
According to an autopsy, Dodson was shot three times in the back, and police found more than three dozen bullet casings on nearby Buchanan Street. His mother, Latrice Dodson, mentioned at a vigil last year that she believed her son’s death was a result of an online dispute. Dodson’s brother, Canova Webb, had been killed in a shooting in 2016.
During the investigation, Porter reportedly lied to police before eventually admitting to having multiple devices. He also has an “RGE” tattoo, which stands for “real gang entertainment.” Porter denied pulling the trigger in Dodson’s death, but later admitted to the police that Brunson conducted the drive-by shooting, and that three men were in the vehicle.
Further evidence came to light when a witness told police that they overheard Porter at a party confessing to the gang’s involvement in various murders, including Dodson’s. Porter was also overheard discussing Dodson’s murder at Hammond City Jail, where he indicated that he was planning to tell law enforcement that he was only the driver of the vehicle, not the shooter.
The investigation was able to uncover substantial evidence of gang-related crimes involving the 49th Avenue Boys gang, including several homicides, drug dealing, illegal firearm possession and sales, and general crimes of violence throughout Lake County. The task force, consisting of detectives from the Gary Police Department, the Indiana State Police, the Indiana State Excise Police, and the East Chicago Police Department, conducted the investigation with assistance from the United States Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Indiana.