Bloomington Police Arrest Suspect in September 26 Murder

Booking photo Stephen P. Dixon II, 26, of Bloomington

Written from press release

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — October 7, 2025

Police have arrested a 26-year-old Bloomington man accused of fatally shooting a transient man late last month on the city’s near west side, authorities announced Tuesday.

According to a Bloomington Police Department news release, officers responded around 9:40 p.m. on September 26 to the intersection of West Howe and South Morton streets after a caller reported hearing a gunshot and screams, and seeing a person on the ground. Responding officers found 29-year-old Shawn Sullivan suffering from a gunshot wound to the left side of his upper torso. He was taken to IU Health Bloomington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:28 p.m.

Witnesses told investigators that Sullivan had been walking west on Howe Street with two women when a dark-colored car sped toward them. Sullivan reportedly threw a bicycle at the vehicle, hitting it. A man then got out of the car with a gun, yelled at Sullivan, and fired a single shot before fleeing north on Madison Street.

Detectives canvassed the neighborhood and recovered surveillance video from a gas station at Kirkwood Avenue and Rogers Street that showed a dark-colored Volkswagen Passat pulling in around 9:24 p.m. — minutes before the shooting. A man and woman matching witness descriptions were seen exiting the vehicle, buying items, and then driving south on Rogers Street.

Police later determined the same vehicle had been involved in an earlier shooting on September 22 in the 1600 block of North Willis Drive, where a shot was fired from the car toward a residence. Investigators obtained the car’s license plate number and traced it to a 30-year-old Bloomington woman.

Tips from the public led investigators to identify the suspected shooter as Stephen P. Dixon II, 26, of Bloomington. On October 6, officers located the suspect vehicle and began surveillance. Police followed it to a school where two children were dropped off, and later to the scene of the September 26 shooting before it headed south to Bedford.

Bloomington Police, assisted by the Indiana State Police and Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, arrested Dixon and the vehicle’s owner, Kaila E. Simms, 30, without incident at a Bedford gas station. Dixon was allegedly armed with a loaded 9mm Hi-Point handgun.

Both suspects were booked into the Monroe County Jail.
Dixon faces charges of murder, two counts of unlawful carrying of a handgun (Level 5 felonies), and criminal recklessness (Level 5 felony).
Simms was charged with neglect of a dependent (Level 6 felony).

Under Indiana law, the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

A booking photo of Dixon, provided by the Monroe County Jail, accompanied the police release.

The post Bloomington Police Arrest Suspect in September 26 Murder first appeared on The Bloomingtonian.