17-year-old charged as adult in death of teen fatally shot in front of father while trying to sell Xbox in Gary

GARY, Ind. (WLS) -- One person was charged Friday in connection with the shooting death of a teen who was trying to sell his Xbox.

Garry Lee Higgins, 17, is charged as an adult and faces four felony charges including murder and attempted armed robbery in the death of 16-year-old Johnny Peluyera, who was shot and killed in front of his own father while trying to sell his Xbox in Gary last month.

Gary police said the shooting occurred at about 6:05 p.m. June 12 near 51st Avenue and Maryland Street. Peluyera, from Merrillville, Indiana, was driven to the area by his father to meet people he communicated with via Facebook and a mobile app called OfferUp in order to sell his Xbox, according to charging documents.

The two people supposedly purchasing the teen's Xbox told him they wanted to test it out to make sure it worked, charging documents state. When one of them took out a semi-automatic handgun from his waist-band, police said Johnny then turned to run back to the car where his father was waiting and was shot. The bullet entered his left arm and then his chest, causing him to die minutes later, according to charging documents.

An 18-year-old was also arrested in Peluyera's death, the Lake County (Indiana) Sheriff's office said Thursday. Charges against the 18-year-old have not been filed.

Charging documents reveal that Peluyera believed he was communicating with someone named Marc Miller on the OfferUp app who had offered to pay $260 for the Xbox -- $10 more than the price the teen was offering it at. Investigators found that "Marc Miller" engaged in several conversations with people on the app attempting to lure them to the address where Peluyera was killed and always offering to pay more than what the seller was asking for.

In the end, the suspects didn't even get the Xbox.

"They killed my son over nothing. They didn't even get the gaming system. They didn't even get the Xbox, so why did they have to shoot him?" said Kelly Arroyo, the slain teen's mother.

The boy's father was not injured in the shooting.

In an interview days after her son's death, Arroyo said she was in "unbearable" pain.

"I hope you feel the pain that I feel right now," she said of her son's killers. "I want you to live with this the rest of your life."