Gary man convicted of killing woman’s boyfriend who came to get her from his apartment

A Gary man was convicted Monday of killing a woman’s boyfriend who came to get her from his basement apartment.

Antonio “Cadillac” West, 54, of the 2500 block of Connecticut Street, was charged in the Sept. 8 murder of Shawn Rhyan Pewitt, 39, of Rockvale, Tennessee.

His murder conviction carries a penalty from 45-65 years. West was also convicted of a firearms enhancement, which could add up to 20 more years.

Prosecutors said West fatally shot him after Pewitt went to pull the woman, his child’s mother, from the apartment after West had supplied her drugs for several hours and forced her to have sex as payment.

Defense lawyers Kerry Connor and Sonya Scott-Dix said the state’s case were various pieces of witness testimony that did not line up. It was mixed with sloppy police work including large holes in what forensics were collected from the scene, Connor said.

The woman also went freely with West and at no point — including to Lowell Police — indicated she was in danger or used her cellphone to call for help, the lawyer said.

The woman, Pewitt and another man were at a drug house nearby in Gary on Sept. 7, when West arrived, charges state. They all briefly went outside West’s apartment.

Pewitt wanted her to leave, but West told her to go inside. She did because she was afraid of him, the woman said. West forced her to have sex for six hits of crack cocaine, according to court documents.

Later on, she went with him for an appointment at a Social Security office and waited in the car. She called Pewitt, who told her to get out of the car and walk for help, documents state.

The woman was too scared and waited in the car, going back with West to his apartment, documents said. Pewitt returned to the apartment to get her, documents said.

“Let’s go,” he said, according to the probable cause affidavit.

“Hell, no,” West responded.

“You want to come outside, I’ll crack your head,” Pewitt said.

West fired a shot that hit him once in the chest, according to court documents. The woman tried to help him, screaming for someone to call 911. West fled in a white SUV.

Pewitt was transported to Methodist Northlake where he was pronounced dead.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys Jacob Brandewie and Arturo Balcazar led the state’s case. Senior Judge Michael Bergerson filled in for Judge Natalie Bokota during the trial.