INDIANAPOLIS — On Monday 35-year-old Donnie Sanders was killed after being shot during a break from his shift at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Elijah Hayes, 25, has been charged with murder in connection with the crime.
A witness told detectives he saw a person walk up to Sanders and say “you look familiar” before shooting him at point blank range, court documents say.
The suspect was noticed by the witness to be wearing dark clothing and a face mask.
Officers with IMPD responded to the scene around 9:45 p.m. and began collecting evidence as Sanders was pronounced dead at the scene.
During surveillance videos, the man later to be identified as the suspect, is seen with a backpack around the Indiana Convention Center.
He is seen again near the loading docks, but without the backpack.
According to court documents, investigators found the backpack under a truck at the loading docks. Inside was a Glock handgun with a magazine inserted and Hayes' forklift operator ID.
During the investigation, the shift supervisor at Lucas Oil claimed that Sanders was not the only employee that was missing following the incident. Another employee – that turned out to be suspect’s brother – was also missing.
The brother later returned to the scene with the Lyft rideshare app open on his phone. He claimed to police that he was simply messing with the app, according to court documents.
The suspect’s brother is not named nor is charged with anything at the time of this report.
During an interview with police, the suspect initially spoke about the incident, but when asked about the backpack he declined to comment.
-
The family of Adam Sykes responds to a deadly officer-involved shooting
The family of Adam Sykes is speaking up and demanding answers from IMPD after he was shot and killed by police in February.
Indiana legislative session approaches deadline with major decisions looming
So far, the governor has signed more than 100 bills into law, some of which have sparked controversy.
New grant helping central Indiana schools address students' mental wellness
A new grant from Butler University is working to help school districts around central Indiana, geared toward helping students with mental wellness.
Indiana businesses remain concerned over uncertainty when it comes to tariffs
A survey by the Indiana Chamber gauges the level of concern around proposed tariffs to local businesses. 80% say they’re “concerned”, 65% are “very concerned,” and 20% say they are neutral.
