Suspect arrested in westside murder near encampment, Bloomington police still investigating
A 42-year-old man has been arrested and charged with murder in connection with the death of a man near a westside homeless encampment in a wooded area, according to a news release issued Saturday morning (Dec. 9, 2023) by the Bloomington police department (BPD).
According to the release, after interviewing several witnesses on Thursday and Friday (Dec. 7 and Dec. 8), Craig A. Pearson was identified as a suspect, located, and arrested on a murder charge.
In the news release, Pearson is described as “transient.”
The BPD defines “transient” in its general police order on encampments as someone “who lacks stable housing or employment and stays in one place for brief periods of time” and “someone who moves from place to place, just passing through the area, and is not staying for a long time.”
That’s contrasted with the general police order’s definition of a “person experiencing homelessness,” which is “an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, a stable residence, or any residence at all,…”
According to the news release, officers first responded around 5:40 p.m. on Dec. 7 to a report about a death, in the wooded area near Wheeler Mission in the 200 block of S Westplex Avenue.
Officers located a body with several injuries that were ”consistent with being cut and/or struck by a sharp object.” According to the news release, the victim’s identity has not yet been confirmed by the Monroe County coroner’s office.
According to the news release, the investigation is still active and anyone with information about the murder is asked to call detective Josh Burnworth at (812) 339-4477.
