In the early morning hours of a July Saturday in 2015, a dispute between two men escalated into a fatal encounter in the parking lot of a South Bend, Indiana bar. The life of Eddie Hill, a 40-year-old man, was cut short by multiple gunshot wounds outside Antonio's Bar on Ewing Street. The events leading to his death began inside the establishment, where Hill, his girlfriend Sarah Coleman, Michael Jones, and his girlfriend Tamarra Townsend had gathered.
Tension arose between Hill and
Jones, reportedly because Hill was upset about the amount of attention Jones was paying to Coleman. The argument spilled out into the parking lot after 3 a.m. As the confrontation intensified near Coleman's car, Jones walked to his own vehicle, retrieved a gun, and returned to shoot Hill at least three times. Following the shooting, Jones and Townsend fled the scene.
The investigation into Eddie Hill's death quickly pointed to Michael Jones as the primary suspect. The day after the shooting, Jones, then 41, turned himself into the South Bend Police Department. He was subsequently charged with murder. Two hours later, his girlfriend, Tamarra Townsend, also presented herself to the police for questioning and was later released.
Michael Jones stood trial for the murder of Eddie Hill. In January 2016, a jury found him guilty after a two-day trial. In March of that same year, a St. Joseph Superior Court judge sentenced Jones to 55 years in prison for the shooting death of Eddie Hill.
