Indianapolis homicide detectives spent 19 months working the January 2025 shooting death of 38-year-old Jeremy L. Patton before finally landing on a suspect who was already behind bars. Yesterday, IMPD served a warrant on 37-year-old Kim Williams Jr. at Plainfield Correctional Facility, where he was serving a one-year sentence for unrelated gun crimes, charging him with murder in Patton's killing.
Patton was found shot to death inside a fourth-floor unit at the Overlook at the Fairgrounds Apartments in the 1700 block of East 38th Street around 11:30 p.m. on January 15, 2025. According to WTHR, officers were initially dispatched on a report of a burglary in progress but found no signs of forced entry before discovering Patton's body. The apartment complex sits near East 38th Street and Fall Creek Parkway, a corridor that has seen new residential development in recent years, as Hoodline previously reported.
IMPD detained a person of interest the night of the shooting but later released that individual, according to WISH-TV. Detective Kevin Roell was assigned to lead the investigation, and IMPD asked the public for tips through Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana as the case dragged on without an arrest. It is not clear from available records what evidence ultimately connected Williams to the shooting, or what motive investigators believe led to Patton's death — questions that remain unresolved.
Three Charges, Including a Gun Enhancement Tied to Prior Record
Williams faces three counts stemming from Patton's death: murder, unlawful carrying of a handgun with a previous conviction, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a domestic batterer, the latter drawn from online court records cited by WISH-TV. Under Indiana Code § 35-50-2-3, a murder conviction in the state carries a prison term of 45 to 65 years, with an advisory sentence of 55 years, according to Justia Law. That statute leaves judges room to weigh aggravating and mitigating factors within a 20-year sentencing window.
The handgun charge has been elevated from a Class A misdemeanor to a Level 5 felony, which carries a punishment of one to six years in prison, because Williams has a prior felony conviction within the past 15 years, per the same statute referenced above. The third charge, unlawful possession of a firearm by a domestic batterer, is a Class A misdemeanor under Indiana Code § 35-47-4-6 that carries up to 365 days in jail and a fine of up to $5,000, according to FindLaw. Indiana law strips firearm possession rights from people with domestic battery convictions unless those rights are legally restored.
Arrested While Already Serving Time
Williams was taken into custody on the new charges while already incarcerated at Plainfield Correctional Facility in Hendricks County, a medium-security Indiana Department of Correction facility that houses roughly 1,600 adult male inmates in dormitory-style units, according to the Indiana Department of Correction. The facility, which opened in 1969 as the Indiana Youth Center before its renaming, was where Williams was serving his one-year sentence for the unrelated gun offenses. No court date for the homicide case had been set as of the warrant's announcement.
The case surfaces as Indianapolis has posted notable drops in violent crime. IMPD Chief Chris Bailey reported a 20% decline in criminal homicides and a 21% drop in non-fatal shootings citywide from 2024 to 2025, per WTHR's earlier reporting on the department's year-end figures. That followed a longer downward trend; IMPD recorded 216 total homicides in 2023, down from 226 in 2022 and a peak of 250 in 2021, though the department's homicide clearance rate remained below 50% that year, according to WFYI. Patton's case, closed nearly 19 months after his death, reflects the kind of prolonged investigative work that has long shadowed the department's clearance numbers even as overall violence has eased.
