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INDIANAPOLIS — A violent weekend in Indianapolis leaves two people dead. One of those victims has been identified by family as an 18-year-old woman on the south side.

Early Sunday morning at the Stone Lake Apartments, police were called to a person shot. Eighteen-year-old Datara Johnson was rushed to the hospital but died a few hours later.

The shooting marked the second homicide this year involving a victim 18-years-old or younger.

“We know her as Baby Dee. Baby Dee was a light of sunshine,” said the victim’s cousin Brandy McDowell.  “We miss her and we love her.”

Sitting next to Datara’s parents, Brandy said her cousin graduated high school in Beech Grove last year and planned to attend Marion University.

Family approved photo of Datara Johnson

The 18-year-old lived at the apartment complex where she was killed, but her family doesn’t know what led to the murder.

“It’s just unclear.  I’m not sure what happened.  We just know she was taken away from us too soon,” said Brandy.

Twelve hours earlier, on Saturday afternoon, IMPD also responded to a different homicide on the near northeast side.

That case involved an adult male shot to death in the front yard of a home along Kinnear Avenue.

The pair of deaths marked the tenth and eleventh homicides of the new year.

“So there’s just a lot of emotions. Angry, upset, confused,” said Brandy.

While Datara’s family struggles to make sense of their loss, her death follows a record-breaking year in 2021 when there were 33 homicides involving victims 18-years-old or younger across the city.

“We need people in the community to speak up. There are too many young people losing their lives to stupid violence. It’s too much,” said Brandy.

So far no arrests have been made in either of the weekend homicides.

Anyone with information about the Kinnear incident should call Detective Erika Jones at the IMPD Homicide Office at (317) 327-3475 or e-mail the detective at Erika.Jones@indy.gov. 

Anyone with information about Johnson’s homicide should contact Detective Steven Gray at the IMPD Homicide Office at (317) 327-3475 or e-mail him at Steven.Gray@indy.gov .