Bloomington police identify suspect in Sept. 6 Kirkwood shooting, warrant issued

An arrest warrant has been issued for a 21-year-old Bloomington man accused of shooting a 19-year-old in the neck during an early-morning confrontation outside the Monroe County Public Library nearly a month ago.

Dajhon Lee Branson-Orellana was charged Thursday (Oct. 1) with Level 3 felony aggravated battery, Level 5 felony battery with a deadly weapon, Level 5 felony criminal recklessness and Level 6 felony pointing a firearm. As described in court records, the warrant calls for Branson-Orellana to be held without bond until an initial hearing.

The charges stem from a Sept. 6 shooting on Kirkwood Avenue in front of the downtown branch of the Monroe County Public Library. At the time, Bloomington police said the victim would not cooperate with investigators and that no suspect had been identified.

In the probable cause affidavit, signed Sept. 23, Bloomington police concluded there was probable cause to arrest Branson-Orellana for attempted murder, criminal recklessness and pointing a firearm.

According to the probable cause affidavit, while at the hospital, a police officer heard the victim say about Branson-Orellana, “He tried to kill me. He put it to my head. He thought I was gonna be scared of that.” But that statement did not appear to come during an interview with police. The attempted murder charge was not a part of the warrant issued.

Court records show Branson-Orellana already had an outstanding arrest warrant when police began investigating the early September shooting. The warrant stemmed from a separate August case where prosecutors charged him with felony intimidation involving a deadly weapon and criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon.

A judge found probable cause on Aug. 26 and ordered the warrant issued. The next day, Branson-Orellana failed to appear for hearings in two older pending misdemeanor cases. In both of those cases the court noted the active warrant in the new felony case and said the matters would be reset after his arrest.

For the Sept. 6 shooting, the investigative timeline from the original press release and the probable cause affidavit both say that police were dispatched at 1:08 a.m. to the block of East Kirkwood Avenue between Lincoln and Grant streets. That’s the block where the Monroe County Public Library is located. Officers found a pool of blood on the sidewalk near the library’s Kirkwood Avenue entrance, close to the iconic limestone bear sculptures, but the victim was gone.

Officers soon learned that the victim had arrived at IU Health Bloomington Hospital with a bullet wound that entered the left side of his neck and exited near his left shoulder blade. He was stable, but declined to tell a detective what had happened.

Other people did talk with police during the hours after the shooting. According to the affidavit, investigators learned that a confrontation grew out of a dispute over three ounces of marijuana believed to have gone missing from an apartment. A group arranged to meet downtown, where an argument escalated into pushing.

According to the affidavit, surveillance video obtained by police appeared to show Branson-Orellana being pushed and then firing a handgun. From the footage, investigators estimated that Branson-Orellana and the victim were within 10 feet of each other and possibly much closer.

Based on the probable cause affidavit, on Sept. 6 police were given “Dejohn Lewis” as the suspect’s name, which they were able to determine pointed to Branson-Orellana, based in part on prior police contacts.

Police eventually got a stronger identification. A witness selected Branson-Orellana from a double-blind photo lineup and picked him “with 100% certainty.” The probable cause affidavit does not explicitly state when the lineup took place, but based on the narrative in the affidavit, it could have come as early as Sept. 8.

The probable cause affidavit was signed on Sept. 23. The arrest warrant on the charges of aggravated battery, battery with a deadly weapon, criminal recklessness and pointing a firearm was issued on Oct. 1.

Branson-Orellana was not listed in the 8:15 a.m. Saturday morning (Oct. 3) book-in reports for the Monroe County jail, or the 10 a.m. Saturday morning jail population report.