For Immediate Release Contact: Sgt. Scott Galloway
January 20th, 2017 sdgalloway@lafayette.in.gov
(765) 807-1260
Center Street Murder Arrests
Lafayette Police responded to the 1600 block of Center Street around 6:00 am on January 16th for a reported shooting. Officers arrived and located 52-year-old John Lawrence Byler, inside an apartment, who had sustained a gunshot injury. Emergency medical personnel transported Byler to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Case facts and evidence collected in the investigation led detectives to investigate the death as a homicide.
Early this morning, January 20th, Lafayette Police arrested 39-year-old Wesley Andrew Hampton and 35-year-old Aarron Christopher Vance, both of Lafayette, for Murder and Robbery with a Deadly Weapon. Both Hampton and Vance are currently in the Tippecanoe County jail. The case will be turned over to the Tippecanoe County Prosecutor’s office to review for charges.
Police continue to investigate the case. Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact the Lafayette Police Department at 765-807-1200 or the anonymous We-Tip Hotline at (800) 78-CRIME.
Sgt. Scott Galloway / Crime Prevention and Community Outreach
The fact a person has been arrested or charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.