2024 murder suspect's trial begins May 12

The murder trial for Quentin Lamont Porter, Jr., accused of the July 2024 shooting death of 23-year-old Malik Darea Sims, is scheduled to begin May 12 at 9 a.m. in Owen County Circuit Court I.

Porter remains in custody without bond at the Owen County Security Center pending the upcoming trial by jury. The court has allotted eight days for the trial, excluding Saturday and Sunday.

The body of Sims was reportedly discovered off Stephenson Road near the Owen-Monroe county line by a passerby on July 15 of last year.

He was 25 years old at the time of his arrest.

An autopsy later revealed the cause of death to be a single gunshot wound to the head. The death was ruled a homicide by the examining pathologist.

According to the probable cause affidavit filed in the case, at approximately 2:21 p.m. on July 15, deputies from the Owen County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) responded to a location on Stephenson Road regarding an unresponsive male discovered by a passerby. Owen County Emergency Medical Services personnel also responded and upon arrival, a black male was located and determined to be deceased.

The deceased male was reportedly found approximately 20 feet north of the gravel roadway, wearing red gym shorts, a white tank top, no shoes, and had a black plastic bag pulled over his head. Evidence technicians also found suspected blood and glass fragments.

While on the scene, authorities reported that an individual appeared and said he and Sims shared their location with one another through "Find My iPhone," and Sims' last known location through this feature was in immediate proximity of where the crime scene had been established. Authorities noted that individual indicated this location stayed constant for over the past 20 hours, indicating Sims had been in that location since the afternoon of Sunday, July 14.

Law enforcement was able to preliminarily identify the deceased black male as Sims, a resident of nearby Bloomington.

Authorities further noted that a second male subject, who was found to be a long-time friend and a current roommate of Sims, arrived at approximately 5:25 p.m. from the west end of the established crime scene. According to the probable cause affidavit, that individual stated the last time he saw Sims was on Sunday, July 14, at approximately 1 p.m. Later in the investigation, the roommate stated he was leaving the apartment and saw Sims after 2 p.m. on their front porch with another male that he knew as Quentin Porter, Jr., aka "QP."

A person who was later identified as the girlfriend of Sims provided detectives with information that she received a Snapchat message from Sims on July 14 at 3:15 p.m. This message thread was later viewed from Sims’ Snapchat account. In this message, the Snapchat account identified as belonging to Sims stated, "Be this ni**a QP got me going through some bulls***."

Additional coverage of the case was published in the August 2024 issue of The Owen News. The article can be accessed on our website at Authorities arrest suspect in Bloomington man’s murder | The Owen News.

A final pretrial conference was held on January 10 in Owen County Circuit Court I, where Porter appeared in person and in custody of the Owen County Sheriff. The defense, represented by Jacob Fish and Megan Schueler, motioned the court for a continuance of the jury trial originally slated to begin on January 21. Owen County Prosecutor Benjamin Kim and Chief Deputy Prosecutor Parker Trulock objected to the continuance, which was ultimately granted by Judge Don VanDerMoere, setting the stage for the jury trial to get underway on May 12.

Porter also faces separate charges of escape and battery against a public safety official related to an incident that occurred on July 30, 2024.

All people are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.