INDIANAPOLIS – What began as a quiet Saturday morning quickly turned into a nightmare for Natysha Offett, an Indianapolis mother now grappling with the unimaginable loss of her two sons. Twelve-year-old Izzy Offett and 24-year-old Wayland Coe were shot and killed in a senseless act of violence early Saturday morning in a parking lot off West 38th Street, becoming the latest victims in the city’s growing epidemic of gun violence.
“It doesn’t feel real,” said Natysha, her voice heavy with grief and disbelief. “I just don’t know how to feel right now. I’m in shock.”
The shooting took place around 4 a.m., near a food truck where crime scene tape now flutters in the summer breeze — a chilling reminder of the lives lost. Police responded to the scene to find the two brothers in a car nearby, both suffering from gunshot wounds. Emergency medics transported them to the hospital in critical condition, but despite life-saving efforts, both were later pronounced dead.
What makes this loss even more crushing is the moment it collided with a mother’s everyday hope and planning. Just hours after the shooting, Natysha was waking up her home for what was supposed to be a joyful day — a family trip to King’s Island. She got up early, ready to gather her children. But Izzy wasn’t in his room.
“I called his phone. No answer,” she said. “I had my daughter check his location, and she said it was out west.”
She tried again, desperate for answers, and this time someone answered Izzy’s phone — a stranger. That call would confirm the worst.
“The only people we talked to was the coroner,” she said. “We still don’t have his phones. We don’t know where the car is — none of it.”
Natysha was forced to identify her sons through grainy, black-and-white photographs.
“They just showed us black and white photograph. That’s it,” she said, the weight of the moment sinking in. “I never got to hold them. I never got to say goodbye.”
She clings now to her own photos — the birthdays, the family dinners, the laughter — moments that seemed ordinary then but now hold an immeasurable depth of meaning. They are the images she chooses to remember her boys by: Izzy, a bright and playful 12-year-old full of curiosity and joy, and Wayland, a protective older brother, navigating adulthood and trying to carve out his place in the world.
The motive behind the shooting remains unclear, and authorities are still piecing together what led to this tragic end. What’s certain, however, is the heartache left behind.
Natysha has a message for the person who pulled the trigger:
“They need to turn themselves in. It’s not going to be avoided. You’re not going to just walk away from this. We’re going to find out,” she said with a mother’s unwavering resolve.
Her pain is raw and unresolved. There are still too many questions. There’s still no closure.
“I don’t have no feelings right now,” she said quietly. “I don’t know… I’m just lost for words. Both of my boys are gone.”
Now, the Offett family must face a reality no family should have to endure — planning two funerals instead of a summer vacation. The lives of two young men, brothers, stolen in an instant, while a mother’s world was shattered forever.
As the city continues to battle rising gun violence, this devastating tragedy is yet another call for urgency, accountability, and healing. The community mourns alongside Natysha, lifting her in prayer as she faces every mother’s worst nightmare — the loss of not one, but both of her sons.
Anyone with information about the shooting is urged to contact Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department or submit tips anonymously through Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana.
Izzy Offett and Wayland Coe — may your names be remembered not just for the way your lives ended, but for the light and love you brought into this world.
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