Bloomington man arrested and charged with murder

LAWRENCE COUNTY, Ind. – A Bloomington man was arrested on murder charges Saturday.

According to a Facebook post from the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, 36-year-old Timothy Brian Helton has been tentatively charged with murder and attempted murder.

LCSO reported that officers were dispatched to the 500 block of Sunny Acres Lane around 10:35 a.m. Saturday to investigate a shooting. When police arrived at the scene, they found two adult males suffering from gunshot wounds.

Both victims were transported from the scene to IU Health in Bedford. Johnnie Grubb IV, a 44-year-old from Bedford, was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The other victim, a 49-year-old man, was flown to a Louisville hospital for further treatment.

As the LCSO investigation continued, officers received assistance from the Indiana State Police and the Bloomington Police Department.

Police eventually learned that two people fled the scene in a vehicle after the shooting. One of the escapees was identified by LCSO as Helton.

Police described Helton as being from Bloomington. However, in its Facebook post, LCSO also stated that Helton does not have a permanent residence.

After interviewing witnesses and reviewing surveillance footage, law enforcement tracked Helton to a residence on Mt. Gilead Road in Monroe County. Bloomington police conducted a traffic stop at Helton near the bypass of State Roads 45 and 46. He was arrested without incident during the stop.

Investigators currently believe Helton arrived at Sunny Acres Lane shortly before Saturday’s shooting. Shortly after Helton showed up, an argument broke out. Police said Helton then pulled out a gun and fired several shots at Grubb and another man.

Helton was booked into the Lawrence County Jail following his arrest.

“The amount of work and investigation that goes into each murder case is immense,” Lawrence County Sheriff Greg Day wrote in a prepared statement. “Combine that with the need to locate and interview multiple people, track down so many people in a three-county area, and process not just the crime scene but multiple vehicles and residences, and there is no way to complete all required tasks quickly and efficiently without the help of partner agencies.

“We cannot thank the Indiana State Police, the Bloomington Police Department and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office enough for their assistance. Thanks to this teamwork and the outstanding work of our detectives, a very complex investigation led to the arrest and arrest of the suspect within a very short period of time.”