In police interview, Gary man claimed self-defense; victim later found decapitated
As two Gary homicide detectives tried to pry information out of Ralph Stokes, Jr., he told them he shot Jimmijion Bailey before the other man could kill him.
'I made a mistake, but it was out of self-defense,' he said on a videotaped recording.
Police and the victim's family disagreed.
The shooting was over 'pure jealousy,' his sister Jakyla Bailey told the Post-Tribune in October. He started dating Stokes' child's mother about three weeks earlier, she said.
Stokes, 24, was charged Oct. 13 with murder in Bailey's shooting death on Oct. 5. His body was found decapitated Oct. 11 on the 2300 block of Clay Street with his arms and knees bound with black tape.
He is the only person charged in the case and has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors played part of his Oct. 12 police interview during Stokes' third bail hearing Tuesday.
Stokes claimed as Bailey turned, he saw an 'extended clip' under the other man's shirt and fired one shot. When police asked where he shot Bailey, he claimed he didn't know.
'He could have taken me out,' Stokes said earlier in the interview. 'It was either me or him.'
Gary Police investigations Cmdr. Ed Gonzalez and Det. Jason Szemes told Stokes evidence including the city's license plate readers showed he had help disposing Bailey's body.
Was the body transported in your relative's car, Gonzales asked him.
I am just taking responsibility for what I did, Stokes responded.
A fourth bail hearing is on Aug. 1. The hearings will determine the strength of the evidence against him and if Stokes would be released before trial.
Bailey's mother called police after he stopped responding to her calls and texts around 6:43 p.m. Oct. 5, documents show.
His family tracked his cell phone location first to Woodlake Village Apartments on the 500 block of Vermillion Place. His mother headed there to talk to the woman he just started dating.
The woman said she was looking for him, too.
Then, Bailey's mother tracked his car to 9th Avenue and Roosevelt Street. She found it there — off the road, still running with her maroon Chrysler 200 in drive, she told police.
Investigators were tipped off on Oct. 10 that Bailey was shot inside the girlfriend's apartment. His body was moved to the bathroom for several hours. His car was taken to 9th and Roosevelt to 'throw off the investigation.' The girlfriend changed her number after Bailey was killed, the affidavit states.
'Why would you do that with our child present,' the ex-girlfriend screamed.
'That's who I am,' Stokes responded.
Two detectives went to the Stokes' house in the 700 block of Louisiana Street, where they found the Ford Flex, silver Infiniti and black Audi, his family's vehicles.
License plate readers showed Bailey showed up to the apartment on Oct. 5. Later, the Chrysler 200 was driven off, followed by the black Audi toward 9th and Roosevelt, to ditch Bailey's car, before the black car headed back to the apartment.
Then, the black Audi and Ford Flex head to the 2300 block of Clay Street, where Bailey's body was later found.
Anyone with more information can call Det. Szemes at 219-755-3855.
mcolias@post-trib.com
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