INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis man dies four days after he was shot inside a home on the city’s near northwest side. Police are now treating the case as a homicide.
The man was shot late Friday in the 1300 block of West 32nd Street. He was taken to the hospital and died from his injuries on Tuesday. He was later identified as Donald Lee Meade Jr., 50.
Bullets holes can be seen in the side door of the home, but so far the motive for the death remains unclear.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation. That’s why we’re hoping people come forward and provide some context to what happened,” said IMPD Lt. Shane Foley.
The victim has been identified as 50-year-old Donald Meade Jr.
The killing took place less than a mile from reverend Charles Harrison’s church.
“When we hear that someone has been killed, it’s concerning and heartbreaking for the neighborhood,” said Reverend Charles Harrison.
Unfortunately, just three weeks into the new year, Indianapolis has already had 16 total homicides. That is the second deadliest start to any year in recent history.
The highest total came in 2021 which began the year with 21 homicides and that number was impacted by a mass murder of six people inside a home on South Adams.
“It has been a deadly start to 2023 and we hope this isn’t an indication of what we’re going to see the rest of the year,” said Harrison. “We get concerned in January and February in the cold months when the numbers are high, because in the past that’s been an indication we were going to have a bad year and we hope that’s not going to be the case this year.”
For their part, police remind everyone they need the public’s help to prevent violence and hold those who commit crimes accountable.
“Over and over again we’ve said police and community works. It works to identify people responsible for violent crimes,” said Foley.
So far no arrests have been made in the case.
Anyone with information about this incident should contact Detective Gary Toms at the IMPD Homicide Office at (317) 327-3475 or by e-mail at Gary.Toms@indy.gov
Jesse Wells contributed to this report.