Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A-CR-17 | July 13, 2020 Page 1 of 9

MEMORANDUM DECISION

Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), 

this Memorandum Decision shall not be 

regarded as precedent or cited before any 

court except for the purpose of establishing 

the defense of res judicata, collateral 

estoppel, or the law of the case.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT

Marielena Duerring

South Bend, Indiana

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE

Curtis T. Hill, Jr.

Attorney General

Myriam Serrano

Deputy Attorney General

Indianapolis, Indiana

I N T H E

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Kahala Jamal Wright,

Appellant-Defendant,

v.

State of Indiana,

Appellee-Plaintiff

July 13, 2020

Court of Appeals Case No.

20A-CR-17

Appeal from the 

St. Joseph Superior Court

The Honorable 

Elizabeth C. Hurley, Judge

Trial Court Cause No.

71D08-1805-F1-10

Vaidik, Judge.
Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A-CR-17 | July 13, 2020 Page 2 of 9

Case Summary

[1] Kahala Jamal Wright appeals his two convictions for Level 1 felony attempted 

murder and his criminal gang sentencing enhancement. He argues that the trial 

court erred in admitting evidence that he was a member of a gang and that the 

evidence is insufficient to establish that he acted with the specific intent to kill 

and to support the criminal gang sentencing enhancement. We affirm.

Facts and Procedural History

[2] In May 2018, Aleatha Carter, her children—J.S., D.S., and C.G.—and her 

wife, Torkika Tibbs, lived on Miami Street on the southeast side of South Bend.

They used to live on the west side of South Bend but moved to Miami Street 

sometime in 2017. There are neighborhood and gang rivalries between people 

from these two parts of town.

[3] Around noon on May 2, J.S. and sixteen-year-old D.S. walked to Stop N Go, a 

gas station about half a block from their house. Before they reached the gas 

station, J.S. and D.S. noticed eighteen-year-old Wright and seventeen-year-old 

Daquoine Harriston1 walking toward them. J.S. knew Wright and Harriston

“from Facebook.” Tr. Vol. II p. 116. Wright and Harriston, who were members 

of a gang called “Southeast Side” or “Loose Screws,” made “direct[] eye 

1 Harriston was convicted of two counts of Level 1 felony attempted murder in connection with this case and 

was sentenced to fifty years. See Harriston v. State, 19A-CR-1059 (Ind. Ct. App. Dec. 6, 2019).
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contact” with J.S. and D.S. Id. at 93. D.S.’s instinct was to turn around and 

walk back home, because he had “other incidents at the gas station prior” with 

“people from the southeast side.” Id. at 93, 104. According to D.S., people from 

the west side “shouldn’t” go to a gas station on the southeast side. Id. at 93. J.S.

and D.S. turned around to walk back home. On their way back, they glanced 

behind them and saw Wright and Harriston following them. Wright lifted his 

shirt to reveal a gun in his waistband. Wright asked J.S. if she had a problem, 

and J.S. responded by asking him if he had a problem. Id. at 110-11.

[4] When they got home, J.S. went inside to get her mother. D.S. and C.G. were

on the porch when Wright and Harriston stopped in the street about halfway 

between the gas station and their house, and one of them asked, “What ya’ll 

on,” meaning “what ya’ll trying to do?” Id. at 94. Wright and Harriston made 

shooting gestures with their hands and “thr[e]w their gang [signs] up.” Id. at 85.

In response, C.G. yelled, “F screw gang.” Id. at 89.

[5] Aleatha, Torkika, and J.S. joined D.S. and C.G. on the porch. As they looked

toward the gas station for Wright and Harriston, Torkika saw them “r[u]n out 

of nowhere” from the opposite direction. Id. at 73. Torkika yelled “they’re 

about to shoot.” Id. At about the same time, Aleatha heard Wright and 

Harriston yell “Loose screws, screw gang.” Id. at 46. Wright and Harriston 

started shooting, and everyone except Aleatha ran inside the house. When the 

shooting stopped, they realized that J.S. had been shot in her arm, and she was 

taken to the hospital. 
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[6] South Bend Police Department officers arrived shortly thereafter and observed 

bullet holes in the windows on the porch and recovered fourteen shell casings

from where Wright and Harriston had been shooting. In addition, they found 

fragmented projectiles in the flower bed in front of the porch, in the living-room

wall, in the entry area near the carpet, and in the living-room floor. Officers 

found no evidence that shots had been fired from the house toward Wright and 

Harriston.

[7] On May 14, 2018, the State charged Wright with two counts of Level 1 felony 

attempted murder, one count for J.S. (Count I) and one count for D.S. (Count 

II). For Count II, the State filed a criminal gang sentencing enhancement, 

which alleges that Wright was a member of a criminal gang at the time of the 

offense and that he committed the offense at the direction of or in affiliation 

with the gang. See Appellant’s App. Vol. II p. 7; Ind. Code § 35-50-2-15. 

[8] After Wright was charged, officers could not find him. Aided by the U.S. 

Marshals Task Force, they found Wright in October 2018. Officers then

interviewed him on October 5. During the interview, Wright first denied being 

involved in the shooting; however, he later admitted that he shot at J.S. and 

D.S. but only after D.S. shot at him first. Ex. 201.

[9] Before trial, the State filed a Notice of Intent to Use 404(b) Evidence. 

Appellant’s App. Vol. II pp. 33-36. Specifically, the State sought to introduce

the following evidence:
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a. That prior to and on May 2, 2018, there existed a criminal 

street gang in South Bend, Indiana, known as “Southeast Side”

or “Loose Screws.”

b. That the Defendant, Kahala Wright, is a member of the

“Southeast Side” or “Loose Screws.”

Id. at 33. Wright opposed the State’s motion. The trial court ruled on the State’s 

motion just before the jury trial started, finding the State could present evidence 

that Wright was a member of Southeast Side or Loose Screws. The court 

reasoned that evidence that Wright was a member of the gang was relevant to

prove motive. See Tr. Vol. II p. 3. The court acknowledged that the evidence 

was prejudicial but found that the probative value of the evidence outweighed 

its prejudicial effect. Id. The court, however, asked the State to limit the gang 

evidence “[t]o the extent that it can be limited.” Id. at 4.

[10] During trial, South Bend Police Department Officer Kyle Dombrowski testified 

that he was a member of the department’s Strategic Focus Unit, which

concentrates on gang activity. Officer Dombrowski explained that Loose 

Screws operates out of the southeast side of South Bend and there is a “beef” or 

“feud” between the southeast side and the west side. Tr. Vol. III p. 38. The 

prosecutor showed Officer Dombrowski several photos from Wright’s socialmedia pages, and Officer Dombrowski explained how the photos proved

Wright was affiliated with Loose Screws.

[11] The jury found Wright guilty on Counts I and II and that the criminal gang 

sentencing enhancement applied. The trial court sentenced Wright to twenty 
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years on Count I and forty years on Count II—a base sentence of twenty years 

plus another twenty years for the criminal gang sentencing enhancement. The 

court ordered Counts I and II to be served concurrently, for a total sentence of 

forty years.

[12] Wright now appeals. 

Discussion and Decision

I. Evidence of Gang Membership

[13] Wright first contends that the trial court erred in admitting evidence he was a 

member of a gang to prove motive. We review a trial court’s admission or 

exclusion of evidence for an abuse of discretion. Fansler v. State, 100 N.E.3d 

250, 253 (Ind. 2018).

[14] Indiana Evidence Rule 404(b) provides that evidence of a crime, wrong, or 

other act “is not admissible to prove a person’s character in order to show that 

on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with the character,” but 

it “may be admissible for another purpose, such as proving motive . . . .”

Evidence of a defendant’s motive is always relevant in the proof of a crime. 

Turner v. State, 953 N.E.2d 1039, 1057 (Ind. 2011). As Wright himself 

acknowledges on appeal, membership in or involvement with a gang can be 

highly probative of a defendant’s motive for committing a crime. Williams v. 

State, 690 N.E.2d 162, 173 (Ind. 1997). But according to Wright, the problem in 

this case is that “absolutely no evidence was admitted showing either J.S. or 
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[D.S.] were members of a rival gang on May 2, 2018 or had been members of a 

rival gang prior to that date.” Appellant’s Br. p. 10.

[15] While no evidence was admitted that J.S. or D.S. were members of a rival 

gang, plenty of evidence was admitted that J.S. and D.S. were associated with a 

rival territory. J.S. and D.S. had recently moved from the west side to the 

southeast side, and by all accounts there was a rivalry between these two parts 

of town. D.S. testified that people from the west side “shouldn’t” go to a gas 

station on the southeast side and that he had previous incidents at the gas 

station with people from the southeast side. In addition, Officer Dombrowski 

testified there was a “beef” or “feud” between the two parts of town. Moreover, 

it is apparent that Wright and Harriston viewed J.S. or D.S. as being members 

of or associated with a rival gang, given the fact that they flashed gang signs and 

yelled “Loose screws, screw gang” before opening fire. The trial court did not 

abuse its discretion in admitting evidence that Wright was a member of a gang

to prove motive.

II. Specific Intent to Kill

[16] Our resolution of the first issue is fatal to Wright’s second argument, which is 

that the State failed to prove specific intent. See Henley v. State, 881 N.E.2d 639, 

652 (Ind. 2008) (stating that a conviction for attempted murder requires proof of 

specific intent to kill). Wright’s argument in this regard assumes that we agreed

with him that the gang-membership evidence should not have been admitted 

and should be disregarded. See Appellant’s Br. p. 11 (“Absent [evidence that 
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Wright was a member of a gang] there was no evidence that Wright had the 

required specific intent to kill anyone in the residence at Miami Street.”). 

[17] Nevertheless, even if we disregarded the gang-membership evidence, we would 

still affirm on this issue. Because intent is a mental state, intent to kill may be 

inferred from the deliberate use of a deadly weapon in a manner likely to cause 

death or serious injury. Henley, 881 N.E.2d at 652. And firing a gun in the 

direction of an individual is substantial evidence from which a jury may infer 

intent to kill. Id.

[18] Here, the evidence shows that as Wright and Harriston followed J.S. and D.S.

home from the gas station, Wright showed them a gun in his waistband. Wright 

and J.S. exchanged words before J.S. went inside to get her mother. Wright and 

Harriston briefly disappeared before reappearing from the opposite direction. 

They then fired approximately fourteen shots at J.S., D.S., and their family 

while they were on the porch, shattering windows behind them. One of the 

shots hit J.S. in the arm. This evidence is sufficient to prove that Wright acted 

with the specific intent to kill J.S. and D.S.

III. Criminal Gang Sentencing Enhancement

[19] Finally, Wright contends that the evidence is insufficient to establish the 

criminal gang sentencing enhancement because there is no evidence that he 

committed the offense “at the direction of or in affiliation with a criminal 

organization.” I.C. § 35-50-2-15(b)(2)(A). Specifically, Wright argues that 

“there is no evidence that Wright was acting in concert with anyone associated 
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with a criminal gang.” Appellant’s Br. p. 15. But as explained above, evidence 

was presented that J.S. and D.S. had recently moved from the west side to the 

southeast side and that there was a rivalry between these two parts of town. On 

the day of the shooting, J.S. and D.S. were walking to a gas station on the 

southeast side when Wright and Harriston made direct eye contact with them

and followed them home. Wright and Harriston then flashed gang signs and 

yelled “Loose screws, screw gang” before opening fire. This evidence is 

sufficient to establish that Wright committed the offense at the direction of or in 

affiliation with Loose Screws. 

[20] Affirmed.

May, J., and Robb, J., concur.