A late-night fight outside a downtown Indianapolis bar left 31-year-old David M. Ballinger dead on August 25, 2018. Police say the dispute began inside Bar 52 near English Avenue and South Sherman Drive over a woman, then moved into the parking lot. Officers who arrived about 1:20 a.m. found Ballinger on the ground with gunshot wounds; the Marion County coroner reported he died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

The man who remained at the scene, Derek Whitt, 40 at the time, was arrested and charged with murder, voluntary manslaughter, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon. Surveillance footage from the bar reportedly captured an initial argument involving Whitt’s then-fiancée and a subsequent physical fight between Ballinger and Whitt in the parking lot. After delays and a mistrial, a jury found Derek Whitt guilty of voluntary manslaughter in May 2021, and he was sentenced to 20 years in June 2021.

Did anyone who was at Bar 52 that night or who knew Ballinger come forward with details that helped the case?