Norman Bailey

Norman Bailey, a 60-year-old Black man, was a respected business owner and devoted community leader in his hometown of Gary, Indiana. A U.S. Army Reserves veteran and devout Christian, he was known for his passion for helping others. He established Bailey’s Inc. in 2001 and was the CEO of the Blue Room Lounge and Bailey Real Estate Holdings. At the time of his death, he was serving his second term on the Gary Community School Corporation's Advisory Panel. Friends and colleagues described him as a pillar of the community whose "fingerprints are all over" the city he loved.

In the early morning hours of January 14, 2022, Norman Bailey was fatally shot inside his own establishment, the Blue Room Lounge on East 16th Avenue. The shooting occurred shortly before the 3 a.m. closing time. A man, later identified as Dariel E. Dodd, entered the bar and confronted Bailey. According to witnesses, Dodd told Bailey, “your son killed my brother,” to which Bailey replied that it had nothing to do with him. A patron attempted to step between the two men, but Bailey reportedly told them to get out of the way. As Bailey turned, Dodd pulled out a gun and shot him multiple times. A second man, 28, was also shot and wounded in his leg and buttocks.

Gary police investigators used witness interviews and surveillance video to quickly identify Dodd, then 42, as the suspect. Dodd had fled the area after the shooting. He was arrested in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, on unrelated charges following a property damage crash on Interstate 65. An Indiana State Trooper who responded to the crash noted that Dodd appeared intoxicated and saw him attempt to throw a handgun into a ditch.

Within a week of the shooting, authorities announced that Dariel Dodd had been charged with murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, along with a firearm enhancement. He was held in the Tippecanoe County Jail before being extradited to Lake County to face the charges.

In June 2023, Dodd, then 43, reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, a Level 2 felony, and a firearms enhancement. During his sentencing hearing, Dodd apologized for the "loss of life." A letter from Norman Bailey’s wife, Ursula, was read in court, in which she called her late husband her "best friend" and "prayer partner." On August 8, 2023, Judge Salvador Vasquez accepted the plea deal and sentenced Dodd to 35 years in prison. The sentence concluded the case as of August 2023.