A St. Joseph County jury found Tonell Williams guilty of murder in the shooting of Jacob Patchen.

Thursday's murder verdict is a finding. It is not the term a judge will impose on Nov. 18. WNDU put the ranges at 45 to 65 years for murder, 5 to 20 for the firearm enhancement, and 8 to 20 for the habitual-offender enhancement. WSBT said he faces more than 100 years. Adding those ranges can clear 100 years. The station did not say the court has added them.

WNDU, WSBT and ABC57 reported Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, that a jury found Tonell Williams, 36, of South Bend, guilty of murder in the Jan. 11 shooting death of Jacob Patchen, 21, of Mishawaka. WNDU spelled the first name Tonel. WSBT and ABC57 spelled it Tonell. The St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office said he was also found guilty of a felony firearm enhancement and pleaded guilty to a habitual-offender enhancement, WNDU reported. WSBT reported the firearm count as a guilty finding and the habitual-offender count as a plea, and said he faces more than 100 years. ABC57 reported the same two enhancements and said he will be sentenced Nov. 18. WNDU reported the jury deliberated about two hours. The prosecutor's office, WNDU reported, put murder at 45 to 65 years, the firearm enhancement at 5 to 20 years, and the habitual-offender enhancement at 8 to 20 years. The Nov. 18 date is the sentencing. It is not a term already imposed.

WNDU reported police said Patchen was found critically injured in his vehicle on Jan. 11 in the 100 block of Angela Boulevard near Michigan Street, and that he was shot from outside the vehicle while driving east. The station reported a juvenile relative was in the car and was not injured. That relative is not named here. The prosecutor's office said in a Jan. 20 release that officers responded at about 7:20 p.m. on Jan. 11 to audible gunfire in that block, that Patchen's full name is Jacob Kenneth Patchen, and that on Jan. 18 the office charged Tonell Jhakkar Williams with one count of murder. The release said a judicial officer found probable cause and ordered him held with no bond, and that the arraignment was set for Jan. 21. Thursday's stations did not reprint the middle names.

WSBT's Jan. 20 account of the charging documents said a witness reported Williams stopped next to Patchen's car, that Patchen rolled down his window, and that the driver of a black boxy SUV drew a firearm and shot him once. The station reported video later corroborated those details, and that in an interview police said Williams was drunk and could not explain where he had been. That is what WSBT said the documents showed when he was charged. Thursday's verdict stories did not walk back through that witness account. The murder count is now a jury finding. The habitual-offender count, as WNDU and WSBT described it, is a plea. The sentence is still the Nov. 18 hearing. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.