Update: On July 28, 2026, Derek Tyrone McKenzie III was found guilty of murder and possession of a firearm by a violent felon. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 17, 2026.
Original story (published Feb. 4, 2025): Cedric D. Crews was killed Christmas day, and according to court documents, it was all over an argument and a slammed door. A little over a month later a man is in police custody for the killing.
Derek Tyrone McKenzie III, 28, is being held in Marion County Jail after being indicted on a murder charge along with unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police made an arrest Monday in the shooting death of Crews, 44. His mother, Tina Crews was not made aware of any arrest by law enforcement by the time IndyStar contacted her Tuesday morning, but did share her joy in the next steps of justice.
“All I want to say is that there is a God,” Tina Crews told IndyStar. “He knew my son didn’t deserve to die like that, and now we as a family can rest knowing that Cedric has gotten Justice for his death. Thank you, Jesus.”
Crews was born in Alabama but lived in Chicago. According to court documents, he and the mother of his children were visiting family in Indianapolis when he was shot.
At 11:11 a.m. Dec. 25, police were called to a home in the 4400 block of North Kitley Avenue on the city’s northeast side on the report of a person shot. Officers found Crews and he was taken to a hospital in critical condition but died less than an hour later.
According to a probable cause affidavit, McKenzie was at the home with his girlfriend and her family.
Crews and the mother of his children got into an argument at the home, police wrote, and another family member intervened, becoming loud and belligerent.
McKenzie and his girlfriend came out of a room during the argument. McKenzie asked Crews multiple times if he had slammed a door. Everyone kept telling McKenzie it was another family member who slammed the door, but McKenzie kept asking Crews, “Was it you, was it you?”
The mother of Crews’ children said McKenzie asked “all crazy like he was going to do something,” police wrote in their arresting affidavit. The scene of the home was chaotic, with McKenzie standing on the corner of a chair, Crews sitting by a window and the mother of Crews’ children sitting on a couch that was flipped over, witnesses told police.
Witnesses had differing accounts of threats that were made between the men, with both threatening to shoot the other at points during the argument.
Crews was shot with a semiautomatic weapon before McKenzie ran out a back door of the home. Police did not detail the make and model of the firearm. According to court documents, there was no physical confrontation between the two before the shooting.
McKenzie’s girlfriend told detectives they heard the couple arguing and an altercation occurring and they came out of the room to see what was going on.
She did not know McKenzie had a gun and told detectives she went back inside the room before hearing “pow!” and calling 911.
The family member who was originally said to be loud and belligerent told Indianapolis Police that they, Crews and the mother of Crews’ children were all talking in the living room when McKenzie came out “meddling in their business” before the shooting.
Crews leaves behind eight children, three grandchildren, seven siblings and a host of other extended family.
McKenzie’s next court appearance is Feb. 6.
Jade Jackson is a Public Safety Reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formally Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: An argument, a slammed door and a shooting. Man arrested for Christmas homicide in Indy
Reporting by Jade Jackson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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By Jade Jackson, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
