On the night of January 3, 2021, a social gathering in a Lowell, Indiana, basement ended with the death of 42-year-old Navy veteran Nicholas Doc Nic Lile. The host and her husband had been drinking with a female friend; the friend had invited 40-year-old Timothy Thomas, an off-duty U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs police officer and Army veteran, to join them. A conversation about military service escalated into an argument that, according to Thomas, turned physical when Lile grabbed his throat and began to choke him. Thomas says he broke free, was punched, and then fired two shots from a concealed handgun, striking Lile in the chest.

Thomas was arrested at the scene and initially charged with voluntary manslaughter; prosecutors later upgraded the charge to murder. At trial the defense argued self-defense while the prosecution said Thomas overreacted and Lile’s injuries did not justify deadly force. A friend who had invited Thomas testified she had been drinking heavily and did not see a fight, only a flash before Lile was shot. The jury acquitted Thomas of murder but convicted him of aggravated battery and a firearms enhancement; the judge sentenced him to 16 years in prison. The Indiana Court of Appeals later affirmed the conviction.

Did anyone at that gathering know more about what happened in the basement that night or have additional information about the interactions between Lile and Thomas?