HAMMOND, Ind. — A 19-year-old Hammond man is charged with murder in the shooting deaths of two young men in an alley off Truman Street on Saturday, Oct. 3.
Tayjuan M. Hall faces two counts of murder, filed Oct. 6, according to Region News Source, which cited court documents. The Times of Northwest Indiana also reported the two murder counts.
Key facts
| Item | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Accused | Tayjuan M. Hall, 19, Hammond | Region News Source |
| Charges | Two counts of murder | Region News Source; The Times |
| Filed | Oct. 6, 2026 | Region News Source |
| Shooting | Oct. 3, alley behind the 800 block of Truman Street; police were called about 2:35 p.m., according to the affidavit (Region News Source). ABC7 reported the bodies were found about 12:30 p.m. | Region News Source (court documents); ABC7 Chicago |
| Victims | Elijah Higgins, 19 (residence disputed — see below); an 18-year-old Hammond man, later identified by the Lake County Coroner's Office | Hammond police via RNS/ABC7: of Hammond. The Times (Oct. 4, 5, 7): of Nevada, visiting relatives in Hammond. Second victim: coroner via The Times |
| Custody | Lake County Jail | Region News Source |
What police found
Police were called about 2:35 p.m. for a report of two people shot, according to the probable-cause affidavit as reported by Region News Source. Both were dead, with apparent gunshot wounds to the head. ABC7 Chicago, citing Hammond police, reported the bodies were found about 12:30 p.m. The two accounts conflict on the time.
No guns were found on or near either victim, investigators wrote. They recovered several spent 9mm casings near the alley entrance.
Hammond police identified one victim as Elijah Higgins, 19, of Hammond, in a release reported by Region News Source on Oct. 4 and ABC7 Chicago on Oct. 5.
The Times of Northwest Indiana reported otherwise: its Oct. 4 police-ID story said Higgins was "a Nevada resident visiting relatives in Hammond"; its Oct. 5 coroner story and Oct. 7 charges story again called him "of Nevada." This story does not resolve which account is correct.
The second victim was an 18-year-old Hammond man. Police withheld his name pending family notification. The Lake County Coroner's Office later released his identity, The Times reported Oct. 5.
What the affidavit alleges
These are allegations from the probable-cause affidavit, as reported by Region News Source.
A witness told police she saw a man shooting, then running to a waiting Buick Enclave that drove off.
Surveillance video showed a man in a white-and-blue hoodie get out of the passenger side of a tan Buick and walk east on Michigan Street. Four males in all black walked north on Calumet Avenue and turned onto Michigan Street behind him. Two of them, the eventual victims, split off and ran into the alley.
Home cameras showed the Buick pull up next to the man near the alley, investigators wrote. He appeared to talk to the driver, turned toward the alley, pulled a black handgun and fired several rounds. He got back into the Buick, which drove south.
Another camera caught one victim jogging east through the alley when he was shot. Investigators noted he did not appear to show a gun first.
The Walmart trail
Police found and seized the Buick. License plate readers put it at a Hammond Walmart about 2:13 p.m. that day, then heading south on Calumet Avenue about 2:23 p.m.
Walmart loss-prevention staff identified the man in matching clothes on store video as Hall, according to the affidavit. Investigators were told Hall and a co-worker had clocked out for lunch and left together in the Buick, with the co-worker driving.
Hall came back to work about 2 p.m. Oct. 4 and was arrested at the store. An officer wrote that he had cut off his afro in what appeared to be an attempt to change his look.
Hall told police he had no phone. Investigators said video showed him walk in with one, and they determined he had given it to another employee, who hid it in her clothing before turning it over.
That employee told investigators Hall and the driver had left to check on the driver's cousin, who was recovering from a gunshot wound. She said Hall told her a group of boys chased him and they got into a "shoot-out."
Hall asked for a lawyer when investigators tried to interview him.
What's next
Region News Source did not report a court date or say whether the driver faces charges.
Hall is presumed innocent. The charges are accusations that prosecutors must prove in court.
Photo credit
¹ Hammond City Hall — photo by Lotzman Katzman, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized for web; this copy is shared under the same license. Illustrative; not the scene.
² Hohman Avenue Commercial Historic District, downtown Hammond — photo by Nyttend, Wikimedia Commons (public domain). Resized for web. Illustrative; not the scene.
³ Downtown Hammond — photograph and upload attributed to John Delano of Hammond, Indiana (22 Aug. 2005), Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Recompressed for web; this copy is shared under the same license. Illustrative; this 2005 view has since changed; not the scene.
