Tim and LaVonne Yaros stood quietly Monday over the grave of Tim’s father in northwest Indiana.
A small group of Gary police officers watched nearby, paying tribute to a fallen comrade. More than 35 years earlier, a bank robber had murdered Lt. George Yaros on the South Side of Gary. On Monday, Yaros’ killer walked free.
And amid the breeze in Calumet Park Cemetery in Merrillville, LaVonne Yaros could be heard whispering, “sorry, George.”
Zolo Agona Azania, 62, was sentenced to death twice for killing George Yaros on Aug. 11, 1981. He was known as Rufus Lee Averhart when he and two other men stormed into the Gary National Bank around lunchtime that day. George Yaros responded to the bank’s alarm, confronted the robbers in the parking lot and was wounded in a shootout.
The robbers ran to their getaway car. But Azania decided to stop, walk back to the 57-year-old cop and shoot him in the chest. Then, Azania fled with the other robbers in a blue Ford sedan, leading police on a wild chase that ended with the arrest of all three.
BACKGROUND Twice sentenced to death, cop killer to be released
Azania was sentenced to die in an electric chair nine months later. But the Indiana Supreme Court overturned his first death sentence in 1993, finding that Azania’s lawyer did a poor job. Then, in 2002, it overturned a second death sentence for Azania over a computer problem that kept blacks off his jury.
In October 2008, prosecutors in Lake County, Ind., made a deal with Azania that resulted in a 74-year prison sentence. With time off for good behavior, Azania served less than half of it.
Indiana’s top judge once said Azania’s guilt “has been largely settled fact for more than a generation.” But when Azania spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times at the Miami Correctional Facility in northern Indiana last fall, he denied killing Yaros. He admitted he killed someone else in a botched robbery in 1972 — a 69-year-old man named Leonard Wick.
“There are things that I’ve done that I got away with,” Azania said.
Azania’s lawyer did not respond to multiple messages seeking comment Monday. An Indiana prison official confirmed Azania’s release. Tim Yaros said he was notified of it around 7:30 a.m. Monday.
“I just got, like, a burning sensation in my stomach,” Tim Yaros said. “I just can’t believe it’s happening.”
Before arriving at the cemetery, Tim and LaVonne Yaros visited the bank where George Yaros was killed. Later, they were met by about 10 Gary police officers at George Yaros’ gravesite. The officers brought white carnations to place at George Yaros’ grave. Lt. Del Stout said they symbolized “a good life.”
“We’re never going to forget Lt. Yaros,” Stout said.
Gary Police Chief Larry McKinley described the moment as “heart breaking” and said Azania’s release “has an effect on all law enforcement.”
Tim Yaros thanked the officers after he visited his father’s grave. He told them his dad “loved working with men like you” and “loved his job.”
Then, Tim Yaros told the officers to “please be careful.”
“Be safe. Be careful. And back each other up.”
