Police interview with murder suspect shown on sixth day of trial
To read day five trial coverage, click here.
Quentin Lamont Porter Jr. sat at the defense table in the Owen County Courthouse listening to himself talk.
On the sixth day of his trial, two years after his initial interview with police took place, Porter sat while the jury watched and listened to a three-hour-long recording of that interview. Porter was arrested for the murder of Malik Darea Sims that same day, July 24, 2024.
On the wheeled-in television screen, Porter sat in the corner of the room, with a Coca-Cola bottle, wearing yellow shorts and a grey T-shirt, being asked questions by Owen County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Nathan Martin, Bloomington Police Department Detective Jeff Rodgers and BPD Detective Chris Scott.
Before the video began, Owen Circuit Court I Judge Don VanDerMoere II told the jury that what the police say during the interview is not evidence and should not be considered so. The information revealed “may or may not be true,” he said.
“I’m not going to play it off like we haven’t done our homework,” Rodgers said in the video. He told Porter he was going to lay out everything they have within the investigation. “I think there’s two sides to every story,” he said.
The detectives asked Porter what he was doing with Sims and why he made the decisions he did after Sims was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head.
Porter was the last person seen with Sims before Sims was killed on Stephenson Road in Owen County.
At the beginning of the interview, Porter either remained silent or shook his head in response to questions the detectives asked him. As time went on, he opened up a bit more, revealing more and more of the story he claimed occurred and explained his innocence.
Rodgers took the first go at talking to Porter, trying to get him to talk.
“I’m trying to understand right now, everything that they’re showing us is making you look like this cold-blooded killer,” Rodgers said. “You don’t seem like that kind of guy.”
Rodgers was trying to figure out if what happened was an accident, he said. Eventually, the situation will go to court, Rodgers told Porter, where strangers will be watching. They’re all going to ask why he didn’t say from the beginning if something else happened, if there was an accident, why Porter acted the way he did, Rodgers said.
“They’re going to want to know why you put the bag over his head,” Rodgers said. “Were you ashamed of what happened?”
Porter didn’t respond. Sims was found lying in a field, with no shirt, socks or shoes. He was lying on his left side, wearing a pair of red shorts and had a black plastic trash bag tied over his head.
The detectives continued to try and coax answers out of Porter.
“This is going to bother you for the rest of your life, no matter what happens from this day forward,” Martin said.
Rodgers said if an innocent man were sitting in front of him, the first thing he would say is that he didn’t do it.
“This looks like you killed a kid and left him out like trash,” Rodgers said. “Tell me how something else happened. Tell me how I explain this, to his mom, to his family.”
Eventually, Porter told the detectives that he didn’t do it, that he was just trying to get a ride home from Sims. He said that Sims was shot by someone in a white SUV, while he sat inside Sims’ Audi A4.
After Sims’ death, Porter allegedly drove away in the Audi and used Sims’ credit card and name to make purchases for days after. He used it to rent a car and to try to tow the Audi.
“If it was a drug deal, I don’t give a sh*t,” Rodgers said. “I’m not the drug police."
Porter said after Sims was shot, and the SUV drove away, he drove the car about 75 yards up to him. He said he tried to drag Sims into the backseat of the car and used the plastic bag to control the massive bleeding.
Porter said he wasn’t able to get Sims into the car, and instead left him in the middle of the road. He said he did not move Sims into the field where he was found the next day.
Porter said he didn’t call 911 because he didn’t have his phone and Sims’ was locked. After Sims died, Porter drove to his grandmother’s house in Indianapolis. Porter’s phone was later analyzed. Martin said police did not find much activity at all on the phone for about a week before Sims died.
The detectives asked Porter why he didn’t stop at a gas station, or try knocking on someone’s door for help.
“Why would I want to be associated with that?” Porter said. “Why would I want to sit around and get shot?”
Over and over, Porter told them he was trying to avoid a “bad situation.” He told them he was in the middle of nowhere and didn’t want to get shot too.
“This whole situation is wrong,” Porter said. “The only reason I’m even in here is because I crossed paths with him on that day. I got a ride from Malik, that’s it.”
The detectives asked Porter why Sims didn’t actually drop him off at his mother’s house in Bloomington, and instead drove through Ellettsville and into Owen County.
Porter said he didn’t know.
“You’ll never convince me that you didn’t know more about that meeting than you’re telling me about,” Martin said.
Porter said he thought Sims was “making a play.” Throughout the trial, Sims’ roommates and other witnesses confirmed they knew he sold marijuana. However, Porter also told the detectives that he didn’t really know Sims' business.
“If you can’t be honest about the little sh*t, we’re not going to believe you about the big sh*t,” Rodgers said.
Scott asked Porter about what happened to the clothes he wore that day, if they were bloodied and where he washed them. Porter said he didn’t know where they were, and then mentioned taking them to his mother’s. At one point, Porter said he only got blood on his arms and hands from trying to drag the body into the car and cleaned it up with a towel.
Martin said this wasn’t true. He claimed Porter shot Sims in the car, breaking the window. Then, he dragged him out and into the field.
“You’re dodging anything factual, and you think that’s going to save you,” Martin said.
Porter explained his actions by saying that he didn’t want to be involved in the situation, that he was just focusing on getting out of there.
“You’ve shown no remorse,” Scott said. “You’ve done nothing but sit here, yawn and act like we’re wasting your time. You’ve done everything you could do to make yourself look guilty.”
Public defender Jacob Fish asked Martin questions after the video ended. He confirmed that Sims owned a Glock 23 handgun and asked if Martin took Porter’s statement about making a play to mean criminal activity. Martin said it could be. Fish also said Porter claimed that he did not tie a knot in the trash bag wrapped around Sims’ head, and confirmed with Martin that the DNA swabs taken around that area did not return to Porter.
Porter decided not to testify that day, and both the prosecution and defense rested their cases. The next day of the trial will include closing arguments, VanDerMoere said.
