LAFAYETTE, IN — Thomas Moss felt as if he’d die in prison if he was convicted of the gun, intimidation and domestic battery charges he faced, and he wanted to spend more years with his son.
So he concocted a plan to kill Tippecanoe Superior 2 Judge Steve Meyer, according to prosecutors.
Moss’s plans roped five others, including his girlfriend, 23-year-old Nevaeh Bell, into the scheme, according to court documents. The four now face lengthy prison sentences if convicted.
Bell financed much of the conspiracies and helped plan the efforts to kill a witness against Moss and Judge Meyer, according to prosecutors.
Bell, of the 100 block of Foxwood Court in Lafayette, was arrested about 9 a.m. Wednesday during a traffic stop at U.S. 231 and River Road, according to police.
She faces two charges of attempted murder, three counts of conspiracy to commit murder, as well as aggravated battery, battery with serious bodily injury, and two counts of battery with a deadly weapon. She also is charged with obstruction of justice and two counts of intimidation. Additionally, she faces sentence-enhancing charges of gang activity and use of a firearm in the crime.
The probable cause affidavit filed in Bell’s case reveals that Raylen Ferguson, 38, of Lexington, Kentucky, didn’t want to be involved in the crimes, but he was was in debt to Moss and Bell, owing them at least $22,000, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Moss told Ferguson his debt would be absolved and Ferguson would have a higher rank in the gang if he followed through on the plans, according to documents.
Initially, the plan was to kill Moss’s ex-girlfriend, who lived in Pennsylvania and was the victim in the pending case in Meyer’s court. Ferguson was supposed to drive to Pennsylvania, approach the house from the back, kill the witness — and her significant other, if necessary, according to prosecutors.
The woman in Pennsylvania, however, did not answer the door, and Ferguson left and drove home, according to court documents.
If he’d killed her, he was instructed to leave a note at the scene, and a different note would be left at the scene of their planned killing of Meyer, according to prosecutors. This was supposed to confuse investigators about the motives for the killings.
The second part of the plan was to kill Meyer after Ferguson killed the woman in Pennsylvania, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Ferguson was meant to break into the Meyers’s home, force Kim Meyer to zip-tie her husband, leave a note and shoot the judge, leaving from the back door, according to prosecutors.
The planned killings were not successful.
The Meyers were shot at 2:15 p.m. Jan. 18. Kim Meyer was treated at a local hospital and released that day. Judge Meyer was treated at an Indianapolis hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
Ferguson admitted to being the man who shot the Meyers and admitted to going to Pennsylvania to kill the witness, according to prosecutors. Not only has he admitted to his involvement, he implicates Moss, Bell and Blake Smith, who prosecutors said bought the shotgun used in the shooting at the Meyers’s home.
Two other defendants, Amanda Milsap, 45, of Lafayette, and Zenada Greer, 61, of Lexington, Kentucky, also have been charged in connection to the shootings.
Milsap, who filed Monday for a speedy trial, is charged with bribery and obstruction of justice. She is the only defendant to have private legal counsel.
Moss is representing himself. Ferguson, Smith and Greer have public defenders.
Milsap is Moss’s ex-wife, and the couple have a son together. Milsap contacted the woman in Pennsylvania and offered $10,000 if she refused to testify against Moss, according to prosecutors.
Greer is charged with assisting a criminal and obstruction of justice.
Bell has not yet been seen by a judge, so her bond, pretrial and trial dates have not been set.
Cass Superior 2 Judge Lisa Swaim is presiding over the cases as special judge.
Moss, Ferguson, Smith, Milsap and Greer all are due back in court March 5 for a pretrial hearing. Their trials are scheduled for May 6, but it is common for defendants to separate their trials from co-defendants.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Girlfriend among 6 charged in judge murder plot to free boyfriend
Reporting by Ron Wilkins, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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