Background: News footage of the Fishers, Ind. neighborhood where Cameron Doaks was killed in 2024 (WTHR). Inset: Cameron Doaks (Alford”s Mortuary).
An Indiana man, sought in connection to a homicide from 2024, reportedly informed police that he shot another individual to alleviate his suffering.
Cameron Doaks, aged 24, was fatally shot in Fishers, northeast of Indianapolis, on the night of March 16, 2024. According to reports from NBC affiliate WTHR at the time, multiple individuals were detained in relation to Doaks’ shooting. Among them was Caleb Weis, now 26, who was identified as a suspect on November 5.
The following day, as officers attempted to execute an arrest warrant, Weis was shot by police and subsequently hospitalized in critical condition.
With the case now underway, local Fox affiliate WXIN acquired court documents that detail Weis’ statements to police during his detention after the shooting incident involving Doaks.
WXIN revealed that initially, there wasn’t enough evidence for police to arrest Weis for Doaks’ murder. However, police noted that Weis’ account allegedly shifted through several interviews conducted between March and May 2024, raising concerns.
Throughout the investigation, one consistent element in Weis’ narrative, as per court documents, was his claim of acting in self-defense when he shot Doaks.
On the night of March 16, 2024, a group of people rented out an Airbnb on Apple Blossom Road in Fishers to throw a party, according to court documents. At 11:39 p.m., police responded to calls of a shooting at the house and found Doaks “virtually motionless” on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds to his head and torso, lying in a pool of blood.
When police turned Doaks over, they reportedly found a gun underneath him. Doaks was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead at 12:42 a.m.
As police gathered evidence at the scene, they found several shell casings and bullet fragments in the area outside. A neighbor told police that one bullet hit a light fixture inside their house. Investigators determined that bullet likely came from the gun found near Doaks. The other evidence pointed to one other gun that was allegedly fired by Weis.
Police said that Weis was “hysterical” at the scene and reportedly repeated the phrase, “Never in my life, bro” to others. Hours after the shooting, police interviewed Weis, who told them that Doaks and another man started yelling at him while he was getting into his car. Doaks and the other man allegedly pointed guns at Weis, who allegedly wielded his own firearm to defend himself.
During an interview with police on May 7, 2024, Weis reportedly told a slightly different story. This time, Weis said he saw Doaks lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds, “moving” and “snoring.” He told police that he was afraid Doaks would “roll over and shoot” him, so he allegedly fired more shots at Doaks.
But Doaks’ condition, Weis told police, was dire, and he was not “finna let a human sit there and be like that.” According to court documents, Weis said, “I fired the one last round ’cause that’s what you’re supposed to do. Like, you’re not supposed to let somebody, like, suffer.”
Weis allegedly compared the decision to shoot Doaks again to putting a hurt deer out of its misery.
During their investigation, police determined that when Weis was preparing to leave the party at the Airbnb to go to the liquor store, Doaks apparently believed that Weis was stealing his car, which was what led to the initial verbal altercation.
Weis also claimed to police that it was possible that Doaks was setting him up to be robbed. According to court documents, Weis claimed to be a social media influencer who touted his expensive fashion items. He told police that he did not know the people at the party very well, so he floated the theory that some of those people were part of a purported plot to rob him.
WXIN reported that prosecutors clung to the element of Weis’ story where he allegedly compared shooting Doaks to killing an injured deer to end its suffering, alleging intent.
On Nov. 5, Hamilton County prosecutors charged Weis with murder, attempted murder, voluntary manslaughter, aggravated battery, and criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon. Weis remains hospitalized following the officer-involved shooting on Nov. 6.
