Josiah Shaw

Gary Police say that baby Josiah Shaw’s father is a person of interest in the case of his killing during a carjacking that left his mother — Kwana Shaw — on life support after a bullet ripped through her lung, reports Lori Caldwell for the Post-Tribune.

Kwana Shaw is in critical condition from a single gunshot wound that destroyed her lung.

Her 13-month-old son is dead, shot twice — in the face and groin — by a carjacker who left the woman’s car a few blocks from the abduction, Lt. Del Stout said Tuesday.

Police believe the child’s father may have left his job at Arcelor-Mittal’s Burns Harbor plant Monday night to meet Shaw, 29, of Schererville, about 7 p.m. at a friend’s house in the Lancaster Homes complex, 21st and Virginia.

Terry Bethel, also known as Terry Noel, 34, was arrested by Portage police and members of the Gary SWAT team shortly before midnight Monday at his Portage home. Police called him a “person of interest” in the shooting.

Mom sues boy's father, uncle

July 17, 2009

By Lori Caldwell, Post-Tribune staff writer

GARY--A civil lawsuit filed Thursday accuses young Josiah Shaw's father and uncle of conspiring to kill him and wound his mother.

Kwana Shaw, who was critically wounded in the Jan. 28, 2008, shooting, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Lake Superior Court seeking compensation for the loss of her 13-month-old son and the cost of her physical and emotional recovery.

"My goal is to get justice for Josiah Shaw and Kwana Shaw in any form available. We're looking for someone to be responsible," Miller attorney Darnail Lyles said.

The child's father, Terry Bethel, also known as Terry Noel, of Portage, had scheduled a visit with Josiah and knew where he and his mother would be that afternoon, the lawsuit states.

Kwana Shaw identified Bethel's brother, Joe Noel, also known as Sean Noel, in a photo line-up as the masked man who ran up to her outside her friend's Lancaster apartment, shot her and fled in her car with Josiah in the back seat.

Minutes later, police found the vehicle a few blocks away. Inside, Josiah had been shot in the face and groin and died a short time later.

The lawsuit alleges the brothers worked together to incapacitate Kwana and kidnap the boy "to batter and cause the death of Baby Shaw." Lyles notes nothing was taken from car during the theft.

No criminal charges have been filed. Detectives have presented a case to prosecutors who want more evidence.

"It sits in a stack of files gathering dust," Lyles said. "We're looking for someone to be responsible."

Merrillville attorney Scott L. King, representing Terry Bethel, said he was unaware of the lawsuit.

Days before Josiah was killed, Bethel had been ordered to begin paying child support. The child's family reported Bethel made threats to them.