Jury box filled, attorneys draw evidence ‘roadmap’ on first day of murder trial

Malik Darea Sims, a 23-year-old from Bloomington, was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head in July 2024. 

On July 21, 2026, 12 jurors were selected at the Owen County Courthouse to determine whether or not Quentin Lamont Porter, Jr. was responsible. 

Sims’ body was found by a passerby about 20 feet from Stephenson Road near the Owen-Monroe County line with a black plastic bag pulled over his head. 

Owen Circuit Court I Judge Don VanDerMoere II said Porter’s trial is expected to take eight days. He is being charged with murder, auto theft, identity deception and theft. 

At the trial, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Parker Trulock said the jury will see photos, physical evidence and business records and watch surveillance video and a recorded interview with Porter and law enforcement. They will hear accounts from a forensic entomologist, witnesses, officers, detectives and attorneys representing Porter and the State of Indiana. 

During the jury selection process, voir dire, VanDerMoere, Owen County Prosecutor Benjamin Kim and public defender Jacob Fish asked the potential jurors if they had any connection to the case and how they determine someone’s credibility. They inquired how the jury pool felt about marijuana, if they watch true crime television shows, if they had been victims of a violent crime and what reasonable doubt means to them, among other topics. 

Of the 200 summoned for jury duty, 84 appeared. The selection process went through about eight rounds before the jury box was filled and two alternates were selected. 

After, the jurors were sworn in and VanDerMoere read the preliminary instructions. He asked them to keep an open mind throughout the trial, consider all the information and evidence, refrain from doing research or discussing the case with non-jurors and remember that people charged with crimes are presumed to be innocent. 

With the picks solidified, the attorneys presented their opening statements — a “roadmap” of what the attorneys expect the evidence to show, Trulock said. 

As for the prosecutor’s fight for Porter, 27, to be found guilty, the evidence will show what Porter allegedly did, said and how his account compares to the evidence. It shows that Sims was shot and killed, a passerby found his body and the victim’s car, driver’s license and credit card was gone, Trulock said. 

“Everything in the case comes back to that one question: Who murdered Malik Sims?” Trulock said. “Standing alone, no single piece [of evidence] answers the question.”

Put together, it will, he said.

Trulock said the recorded interview between Porter and the law enforcement officers is one of the most important pieces of evidence. Porter admitted that Sims gave him a ride, that they left together and that Sims was never seen alive again, he said. 

The attorney encouraged the jury to pay attention to Porter’s word choice in the video and compare what he says with the evidence. 

Trulock said Porter claims that someone pulled up in a white SUV and killed Sims. Following his death, Porter didn’t call 911, report the SUV or seek medical attention for Sims, Trulock alleged.

Instead, he allegedly drove off in Sims’ 2012 Audi A4. 

Law enforcement tracked the vehicle using Flock Safety data and cameras and found it was driven to an Indianapolis address registered to Porter’s grandmother, according to a probable cause affidavit. 

During a search of the residence, Porter’s grandmother and family members told officers Porter arrived at the residence in the Audi A4 at 11 p.m. on July 14, 2024. He told them the vehicle “was going to be his” after being asked if it belonged to him.

Later, Indiana State Police evidence technicians found blood, bleach traces and spray paint on the interior. Porter was charged with theft of Sims’ cell phone, driver’s license and credit card. He allegedly used Sims’ card to purchase seat covers found in the vehicle and to tow it from Indianapolis to Bloomington. 

“Investigators followed the evidence wherever it led,” Trulock said. 

The court must prove everything Porter was charged with beyond a reasonable doubt, Trulock said. 

Public defender Megan Schueler gave her statement after Trulock. She said some of his questions were valid, but that by the end of the trial, the jurors will not know who murdered Sims. 

Following Porter’s account of Sims’ death, that someone in a white SUV shot him, Scheuler said he was scared for his life. 

“My client got the heck out of there when he saw someone murder his friend,” she said. 

Porter thought the incident might have to do with marijuana, which Schueler said Sims sold.

Scheuler agreed with Trulock that the video interview is an important piece of evidence, but shows something different than he claimed. 

“He tells the officers — which the state neglected to tell you — that he did try to help his friend,” Schueler said. Porter tried to limit the bleeding and couldn’t carry Sims. Regarding the stolen items, those were in the vehicle Porter used to flee the situation, she said. 

Scheuler also said the identity theft allegation is “a little murky.” Porter may have used Sims’ card, but he signed his own name and used his own rewards card, she said. 

The attorney asserted that Porter was interrupted in the video interview at least 19 times and told what happened instead of being asked actual questions. 

Porter’s public defender said even more evidence complicates the case, such as how Sims’ blood was found on Porter’s gun, but Porter’s DNA was not. 

“All of the forensics in the world cannot tell you anything about who killed Malik Sims,” Scheuler said. 

The trial began yesterday, July 21, hearing evidence to establish the purchase of a Taurus 9 millimeter handgun from Ace Pawn in Bloomington on July 9, 2024 through business records and testimony before breaking for the day.