On a Saturday evening in March 2018, a dispute that began inside an Indianapolis Meijer grocery store tragically escalated in the parking lot, ending the life of 37-year-old Steven L. Wills. The male victim was fatally shot on March 24, 2018, following a heated argument with a teenager.
Witnesses reported seeing Wills and the suspect arguing before the confrontation moved outside the store located on Pike Plaza Road. There, the verbal altercation turned deadly.
Responding to reports of a person shot, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers discovered Wills unresponsive with a gunshot wound. Medics pronounced him dead at the scene.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident, police arrested 19-year-old Cedric Cooper. He was subsequently charged with voluntary manslaughter in connection with Wills' death. Early reports indicated that the shooting may have occurred in self-defense, a claim that would be subject to investigation by law enforcement and the judicial process.
According to some accounts, Cooper remained at the scene after the shooting and was cooperating with detectives. The Marion County Prosecutor's Office was tasked with reviewing the case to make a final charging decision. However, the subsequent legal proceedings and the ultimate outcome of the case against Cedric Cooper, including whether the self-defense claim was substantiated or if a trial took place and its resolution, have not been publicly reported. Similarly, details regarding Steven Wills' ethnicity are not available in the public records surrounding the incident.
