EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The New Year’s Day shooting that killed an Evansville man followed an attempted robbery where a group of people tried to steal marijuana and cash from him, city police say.

Three people have been arrested and one of them is already charged with felony murder in connection with the death of 28-year-old D’Angelo White

Mykel Blair, 20, is charged with felony murder, attempted robbery resulting in serious bodily injury and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. According to a probable cause affidavit, the Vanderburgh County Prosecutor’s Office plans to file the same charges against 38-year-old Derrick Butts and 17-year-old Charissa Robinson.

Police believe Blair was the person who shot White with a handgun Robinson is accused of stealing from her grandfather and giving to Blair, her boyfriend.

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Blair, Robinson and Butts are all in custody at the Vanderburgh County Jail. Blair was arrested on a warrant. His booking photo was not available yet as of Friday morning.

Under Indiana law, someone can be charged with felony murder if a person dies while the suspect is trying to commit certain dangerous felonies, like robbery. It carries the same penalties as murder but does not require prosecutors to prove the suspect intended to kill someone.

White, 28, was shot in the chest Jan. 1 while trying to drive away from the robbery on South Bedford Avenue, according to Evansville Police Department. His car ran off the road at the three-way intersection of Bedford and Washington avenues, and he crashed into a house.

White was pronounced dead shortly after he arrived at a local hospital that night.

Related: Coroner IDs fatal shooting victim who crashed car into South Side house

He was “barely alert” when police arrived, according to a probable cause affidavit. Neighbors on Washington Avenue had helped him out of the car and tended to his wounds but said he drifted in and out of consciousness.

White told police: “She set me up,” and told them to look at his phone, the affidavit states. Officers found two large bags of marijuana in his car as well as White’s phone.

After getting a search warrant for White's phone and car, investigators say they found texts to and from Robinson setting up a marijuana buy the day of the shooting at a house on South Bedford. Robinson allegedly bought weed from White only minutes before he was shot.

Blair, Butts and a third man were all outside the house and allegedly tried to rob White after Robinson paid him for the marijuana. When White drove away, one of the men shot at him.

According to the affidavit, the suspects changed their accounts of who was present during the shooting over the course of multiple interviews with police.

EPD is still looking for the third man investigators believe was present during the robbery, 20-year-old Noah Coleman.  The affidavit does not list any potential charges for Coleman, and no warrant has been issued in Vanderburgh County courts.

Butts and Robinson have not been formally charged yet, according to electronic court records. They both have probable cause hearings scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday.

Butts was already in jail on unrelated charges. Robinson and Blair were booked Friday morning.

Anyone with information on the case can call the anonymous WeTip hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME.

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The Evansville Police Department, EVSC and Mayor Lloyd Winnecke hold a joint press conference to address recent school threats.


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