GUILTY IN - Thomas Grill Jr., 18, & Molley Lanham, 19, murdered, Lake County, 25 Feb 2019 *arrests*

[FrostedGlass]

Before I was going to bed - I got this alert!!

John Silva admits to his role in 2019 Porter County double slaying on eve of trial

April 8, 2022

VALPARAISO — After nearly two years of denying his role in the 2019 slaying of two Lake County teens in rural Porter County, John Silva II relented Thursday afternoon and pleaded guilty as part of a proposed deal that calls for a 20-year prison sentence.

The plea came as prosecutors were preparing to try the 21-year-old a second time starting Monday after his first trial in June resulted in a mistrial because the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Silva pleaded guilty before Porter Superior Court Judge Mike Fish to attempted robbery, voluntary manslaughter and welfare fraud in return for prosecutors agreeing to a 31-year prison sentence with 11 years suspended. The sentence would reportedly require Silva to serve 13 1/2 years behind bars.
[.....]
The judge also canceled next week's trial.

A news source just posted that Silva got a 20 year term but it's behind a solid paywall so I don't know anything more. It sounds like the judge went with the plea deal.

 

[Niner]

Found this article - yep - 20 years.

Silva gets 20-year term in Porter County drug double homicide

A man accused as an accomplice in a deadly Porter County double homicide in 2019 involving a drug deal gone bad was sentenced to a 20-year prison term Friday.

www.chicagotribune.com

May 21, 2022
A man accused as an accomplice in a deadly Porter County double homicide in 2019 involving a drug deal gone bad was sentenced to a 20-year prison term Friday.

John Silva, 21, formerly of Hamlet, was charged May 22, 2020, in connection with the Feb. 25, 2019, deaths of Thomas Grill, 18, of Cedar Lake, and girlfriend Molley Lanham, 19, of St. John.

Silva’s first trial last year ended with a hung jury.

Lawyers from both sides negotiated for months on a plea deal that Porter Superior Judge Michael Fish accepted Friday.