BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington Police believe 42-year-old Craig Pearson, a “self-proclaimed neighborhood enforcer” was avenging recent tent thefts when he attacked 31-year-old Shaquille Phillips with a machete, killing him.
Pearson has been arrested and charged with felony murder.
Bloomington Police officers were alerted to the death on Thursday, December 7 after receiving a report of a possible dead body in a creek northeast of Wheeler Mission on South Westplex Avenue.
When police arrived they found a “deceased African-American male” face down in a densely wooded area. Phillips suffered multiple severe cuts on his head and the side of his face, which was partially submerged in semi-stagnant water of the creek bed. According to court documents, part of the victim’s ear was nearly severed in a “relatively clean slice.”
Several individuals were interviewed in a nearby homeless camp and investigators searched the area for evidence related to the Phillips’ death. One witness said Pearson was “bragging about ‘chopping’ somebody with a machete”. Another witness told police, that Pearson bragged that he “cut him up real good” and that the man “squealed and cried out in pain and agony” while being attacked.
One person told police, that Pearson acted like a security guard for the homeless camp was “out of control” and had recently attacked another person.
People reportedly told police that Phillips had been stealing and selling other’s personal belongings, according to court records. Several in the camp told police they confronted Phillips about the thefts and within seconds, Pearson came out from behind a tent and began attacking Phillips.
Pearson, who is also a transient, was located and detained.
