Dareon Brown, 18, was fatally shot in Michigan City, Indiana on December 18, 2018. He had moved to Michigan City from Indianapolis and was with his girlfriend in the 200 block of Karwick Road when the shooting occurred. According to the girlfriend, 16-year-old Hakim Zamir Lamar Qualls approached, exchanged a brief salutation, then shot Brown multiple times. Brown was taken to a local hospital by his girlfriend and pronounced dead.

Police located Qualls at his girlfriend’s residence shortly after the shooting and recovered a backpack containing two handguns. Qualls was initially charged with murder and carrying a handgun without a license; bond was set at $1 million. The first murder trial ended in a December 2019 mistrial after a detective related to Brown made an improper comment about Qualls’s decision to remain silent. Subsequent prosecutions resulted in convictions for aggravated battery and dangerous possession of a firearm and a nine-year sentence, though those convictions were later reversed on appeal.

If anyone knew Dareon or was in the area that afternoon, information could still help clarify what happened.