BEDFORD – A Bloomington man is behind bars charged with the murder of Johnnie Grubb IV, 44, of Bedford.
On Saturday, May 18th, at 10:35 a.m., Lawrence County Central Dispatch received a 911 call reporting a shooting in the 500 block of Sunny Acres Lane, just southeast of Bedford.
When deputies arrived, they found two male victims had been shot. They were transported by ambulance to IU Health Bedford Hospital. Grubb was pronounced dead at the hospital. The second male, 49, of Mitchell, suffered life-threatening injuries and was flown by medical helicopter to a Louisville Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery.
Deputies at the scene learned two males involved in the shooting had fled the scene in a vehicle. They also learned the shooting had been captured on surveillance video.
Detectives and Command staff responded to the scene along with Indiana State Polie evidence technicians.
Narcotic detectives from ISP and the Bloomington Police Department became invaluable in helping locate all persons of interest. Police learned those involved were from Monroe County and had no permanent residence.
Investigators were able to determine one male involved was 36-year-old Timothy Brian Helton. The second male was identified as 29-year-old Christopher Cecil, of Bloomington. While that was happening, Narcotic detectives tracked Helton to a home on Mt. Gilead Road in Monroe County.
ISP and Lawrence County Drug Enforcement detectives conducted surveillance and observed Helton leave with other occupants in a different vehicle than what he left at the murder scene. Officers from the Bloomington Police Department conducted a traffic stop along the State Road 45/46 bypass and took Helton into custody without incident.
In addition, detectives obtained numerous search warrants for the scene, the vehicle Helton had fled in, which was found in Monroe County, the vehicle Helton was in while stopped, and the residence Helton left from on Mt. Gilead Road. These warrants were executed, and evidence was collected.
Investigators determined that Helton and Cecil arrived at the Sunny Acres Lane address shortly before the shooting occurred. Some disagreement ensued that stemmed from an ongoing dispute several days earlier. Helton allegedly pulled out a firearm and shot multiple rounds, striking Grubb and the second victim. Helton and Cecil immediately fled the scene.
Helton is facing a charge of murder and attempted murder. He was incarcerated in the Lawrence County Jail without bond.
Lawrence County investigators and ISP troopers located Christopher Cecil at a residence in Greene County. He was arrested on an outstanding felony probation warrant out of Monroe County as well as a new offense of possession of methamphetamine in Greene County. After being interviewed, he was incarcerated in the Greene County Jail.
Sheriff Greg Day praised the investigative work of all involved and expressed his gratitude for the outstanding teamwork of all agencies.
“The amount of work and investigation that goes into any homicide case is immense,” said Sheriff Day. “When you couple that with having to locate and interview multiple people, track down so many persons over a three-county area, and process not just the shooting scene but also multiple vehicles and residences, there is no way to complete all needed tasks quickly and efficiently without the help of partnering 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 excellent work by our detectives, a very complex investigation led to the apprehension and arrest of the suspect within a very short period of time.”
Assisting agencies included Indiana State Police Bloomington District, Indiana State Police Drug Enforcement Section, Bloomington Police Department Patrol Division, Bloomington Police Department Narcotics Detectives, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Shawswick Volunteer Fire Department, Lawrence County Fire Territory, and IU Health EMS.
