Court heard more about the events leading up to Jordan Denton’s death from a witness who claims to have been in the passenger seat when the man was shot and killed in the street late in 2019.
They testified Dillon Whitehawk fired a single shot from the back seat of a small two-door car.
Whitehawk is on trial for the first-degree murder in the deaths of Jordan Denton and Keenan Toto. He has pleaded not guilty.
Denton died on Nov. 9, 2019 at the 800 block of Robinson Street. Toto died Dec. 1, 2019 on the 1200 block of Queen Street.
The witness described themselves as a “crew boss” for the Indian Mafia (IM) at the time of the shooting, which is a rank above entry-level gang members.
The witness cannot be named under a court-ordered publication ban.
They told court a group of IM gang members were driving around North Central the night of Denton’s death.
The witness said they were in the passenger seat. Whitehawk was behind them in the back.
All five gang members were wearing red, according to their testimony, “to throw people off.”
Court has previously heard the color red is affiliated with the IM’s rival gang, the Native Syndicate Killers (NSK). Black is associated with the IM.
The plan that night was to drive to Sloane Ford’s house, another IM member at the time, “to kill him,” the witness said. However, they could not remember if the group ever saw Ford that night.
“It’s just been awhile since that day,” they said.
Ford later testified as a crown witness. He said Whitehawk and the witness who cannot be named showed up at his house on the 700 block of Robinson Street on Nov. 9, 2019.
“[Whitehawk] asked me if I had any .22 caliber bullets. I said, ‘No I don’t,’” Ford told court.
Autopsy results show that Denton was shot with a .22 caliber gun.
Ford said it was “not long” after the two left that he heard gunshots, although he could not remember how many.
Ford told court he did not have any disputes with Whitehawk or IM members at that time.
‘JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS’
The witness in the front passenger seat told court they were “just following orders” from Whitehawk the night Denton died.
They claim Whitehawk was an IM general, which is a rank above crew boss. However, other IM gang members have previously testified Whitehawk was also a crew boss trying to work his way up to general.
The witness told court it was Whitehawk’s idea to go for a drive that night. They testified Whitehawk had a .22 rifle in the vehicle that belonged to the gang.
They said the group spotted Denton walking with another person on the 800 block of Robinson Street.
The witness said they recognized Denton as a “familiar face” from when they were younger. They said Denton was not affiliated with a gang as far as they knew.
The witness told court Denton was wearing a red shirt, but could not remember if it was an inner or outer layer. Photographic evidence shows Denton had a red T-shirt on the night he died, but it was underneath three other layers of clothing.
Whitehawk told the driver to stop beside Denton and asked the witness to roll down the window, according to their testimony.
The witness then asked Denton: “Who are you down with?”
He replied, “no one.”
The witness claimed that is when Whitehawk pushed up the front passenger seat, leaned out the window and fired a single shot.
“[Denton] arched. I can’t remember if he fell,” the witness said.
Then the group drove away. The witness said they ditched their red clothing near Centennial Bingo just off of Albert Street. The witness does not know what happened to the gun.
The witness is currently in custody for other criminal charges, including first-degree murder.
During cross-examination, the defense highlighted the witness’s lengthy criminal record and questioned if they were expecting their charges to be dropped after they testified against Whitehawk.
The witness said they were not sure.
The defense also brought into question the witness’s memory. The witness told court they were a meth user at the time of the shooting and had done drugs prior to getting into the vehicle.
The witness was arrested for Denton’s murder in February 2020, but never charged. In their police statement, they did not mention anything about wearing red or the group’s plans to kill Ford. They also told police they did not remember what they were doing the night of Nov. 9, 2019.
The witness said they were on drugs when they gave their statement in 2020. However, they “remember more details after thinking about it.”
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