Park Manor man arrested in murder of 14-year-old West Town girl dumped in Gary

A Park Manor man has been arrested in connection to the murder of a 14-year-old West Town girl found dumped in an alley last year in Gary, Indiana.

Deon Simmons appeared for an extradition hearing Thursday in Chicago on a murder warrant in Lake County and a DUI warrant in White County, Indiana. Simmons, 35, agreed to be sent to Indiana to face those charges.

He’s charged in the fatal shooting of Takaylah Tribitt, who was found by utility workers in an alley Sept. 16, 2019, near East 20th Avenue and Pennsylvania Street in Gary, according to Lake County sheriff’s office spokeswoman Pamela Jones.

She went missing weeks earlier in the 1100 block of North Noble Street in West Town, Chicago police said then.

In an attempt to identify her body, Lake County investigators released a photo of a T-shirt similar to the one Tribitt was wearing and a composite sketch of her face, Jones said. Several of Tribitt’s family members contacted investigators after seeing the images. She was later identified through DNA analysis, Jones said.

“I would like to commend all of the officers involved in investigating this case and making an arrest,” Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said in the email. “I’m especially proud of how officers from several agencies shared information and resources to make progress in the case.”