INDIANAPOLIS — A man is charged with murder and unlawful carrying of a handgun in the shooting and killing March 6 of a worker near Lucas Oil Stadium.
Police arrested 25-year-old Elijah Hayes after the shooting.
IMPD said officers arrived "within minutes" and found a man on the sidewalk near South and Missouri streets who had been shot. Medics pronounced the man dead at the scene.
The Marion County Coroner's Office identified the victim as 35-year-old Donnie Lee Sanders.
According to the arrest report, surveillance footage showed the suspect, later identified as Hayes, run toward the Indiana Convention Center. The footage showed Hayes with a backpack and going into the loading docks of the convention center. Then, Hayes was seen exiting from behind a trailer, but he was not wearing the backpack.
Police later found that backpack under the trailer and got a search warrant for it.
Investigators found a .45 Glock with a magazine inserted inside the backpack, as well as a 30-round extended magazine and forklift operator ID with Hayes' name on it.
A witness told police he was in his car and on the phone with his girlfriend when he heard multiple gunshots. The witness said he saw a man fall to the ground and two other men run from the scene.
Another witness told police he was taking his smoke break with Sanders when another man, dressed in all black clothing, a dark-colored backpack, backwards hat and mask walked up to them and asked for a lighter. The witness said the suspect then looked at Sanders and said, "You look familiar," and then shot Sanders at point-blank range.
Police spoke with a witness who returned to the scene, who was later identified as Hayes' brother. Both men were taken into custody to be questioned at the IMPD Homicide Office.
Hayes' brother told detectives he was working for a temp agency at Lucas Oil Stadium on the night of the shooting. He told police he was not sure when the shooting happened and said he had not talked with his brother that day.
Detectives then spoke with Hayes, who told them he previously had a gun but did not have one at that time. Hayes also said it had been a while since he had seen his brother.
Hayes will have his initial hearing March 15 and a trial is preliminarily set for May 22.