On a Tuesday afternoon in Michigan City, Indiana, 18-year-old Dareon Brown was fatally shot on December 18, 2018. He was with his girlfriend in the 200 block of Karwick Road when the incident occurred. Brown was a male who had moved to Michigan City from Indianapolis, where he had attended elementary and high school.
The suspect in the shooting was identified as 16-year-old Hakim Zamir Lamar Qualls, who was a junior at Michigan City High School at the time.
According to the victim's girlfriend, Qualls approached them, exchanged a brief salutation, and then shot Brown multiple times. There was reportedly no argument before the shooting. Brown was transported to a local hospital by his girlfriend, where he was pronounced dead. Following the incident, police located Qualls at his girlfriend's residence and took him into custody. A backpack containing two handguns was also recovered.
Qualls was initially charged with murder and carrying a handgun without a license, and his bond was set at $1 million. The subsequent legal proceedings were complex. In December 2019, Qualls's first trial for murder ended in a mistrial. This was due to a detective, who was related to Dareon Brown, making an improper comment about Qualls's decision to remain silent during questioning.
Following the mistrial, the prosecution's case underwent a significant shift. Instead of pursuing another murder trial, the state added new charges. In a subsequent trial, Qualls was convicted of aggravated battery and dangerous possession of a firearm and was sentenced to nine years in prison. However, in May 2025, the Indiana Court of Appeals reversed these convictions. The appellate court's decision was based on findings of prosecutorial vindictiveness and procedural errors by the state. The court ruled that Qualls should not have been retried on the new charges and remanded the case with instructions to vacate the convictions.
