Who is Darren Deon Vann? Inside the case of one of Indiana’s most prolific serial killers.

Jessica Blake
5 min readJun 24, 2018
Lake County Sheriff’s Department via Rolling Stone

There’s a shady underground that seethes in this country where men pray on innocent women. It’s like playing the lottery. Women buy a ticket thinking they are gonna win only to scratch the ticket and find an evil joker lurking beneath.

Afrikka Hardy

Afrikka Hardy was one such woman. Nineteen years old, she was beautiful. Full of spirit and vivacity. She had only recently come to Chicago. She had family there. Her mom, Lori Townsend, had stayed behind in Aurora, Colorado where they had been living for the past 5 years. Afrikka dreamed of being famous one day. Something she told her mother often. Afrikka probably never dreamed of being famous this way. Because of Afrikka’s death a serial killer was exposed and brought to justice, allowing other families in limbo some measure of peace. For that Lori Townsend feels her daughter’s death was not in vain.

So where does Darren Deon Vann fit in this story, who is he? He’s the evil joker who made Afrikka famous and a monster that plagued Gary Indiana; killing at least 7 women. And there are clues that he may have killed a total of 18 women.

--

--

Jessica Blake

Writer/ Registered Nurse/ Wife/ Mother/ Lover of True Crime/ Healthcare Junkie/ Consummate "Good Girl"