Crime

Gary woman charged with murder after man run over in driveway

A 34-year-old Gary woman has been charged with murder in the Sept. 7 death of a man who investigators allege she struck and ran over with her car during a dispute outside a West Side home, according to court documents summarized by Region News Source.

Kevin Han · Sept. 13, 2026 · GARY, Ind

GARY, Ind. — A 34-year-old Gary woman has been charged with murder in the Sept. 7 death of a man who investigators allege she struck and ran over with her car during a dispute outside a West Side home, according to court documents summarized by Region News Source.

Key facts

Ashley Dominique Taylor was charged Sept. 9 in Lake County, Region News Source reported. The Lake County Coroner identified Cooper. An autopsy found the cause of death was blunt-force trauma with multiple fractures. The death was preliminarily ruled a homicide, the outlet reported.

Charges are accusations. Taylor has not been convicted.

Scene

Police were called overnight to the 4400 block of West 20th Place for a report of a man being run over in a driveway, court documents state. Officers found Cooper lying near the driveway with extensive injuries and facial trauma.

Taylor was at the scene. According to the documents, she told police “it was an accident” and “I didn’t mean to.”

Witnesses told investigators Taylor and Cooper had been having problems in the weeks before the incident and had been arguing for several days. One witness reported hearing a commotion and children screaming, then finding Cooper severely injured in the yard with a car on the grass nearby, Region News Source reported, citing the court file.

Physical evidence

Investigators said tire tracks ran from the driveway into the grass near Cooper’s body. A piece of plastic believed to be from the undercarriage of a Hyundai Elantra was found in the driveway.

The Hyundai, registered to Taylor, was parked nearby with a mark on the hood that appeared to show recent contact, according to the documents. Empty tequila bottles were found inside the car and in the yard.

Child witness and interview

A child witness told investigators Taylor and Cooper were arguing outside about their relationship. The child said Taylor drove the Hyundai into Cooper with the front of the vehicle, then rolled over him before reversing back onto the street, according to the affidavit as reported by Region News Source.

Taylor was taken to the Gary City Jail. An investigator reported smelling alcohol on her, Region News Source said.

In an interview the next day, Taylor told investigators Cooper was her on-and-off boyfriend and that the two had been drinking tequila and smoking marijuana inside the Hyundai. She said she drank multiple glasses of tequila, said she was drunk, denied arguing that night, and said they were “just chilling,” according to the documents.

She said she did not remember striking Cooper or driving into the yard until Cooper’s daughter yelled that Taylor had hit her father with the car. Investigators said her account conflicted with witness statements describing an argument immediately before Cooper was struck.

Charges filed Sept. 9

A same-day check of The Times of Northwest Indiana crime-courts listings did not turn up a matching Taylor/Cooper standalone item at draft. Region N3 will update when arraignment or further court action is reported.