A La Porte County jury convicted Marcus Ballinger Jr. of murder in Devin Porter's death.

A murder conviction is a jury finding beyond a reasonable doubt. It is not the sentence. Indiana's murder range runs 45 to 65 years, WIMS and Hometown News Now reported. Nov. 5 is when the court decides the term. The May arrest and the October verdict are months apart. The charge became a conviction. The sentence has not been imposed.

Marcus Ballinger Jr., 19, was found guilty of murder in La Porte Superior Court 1 in the shooting death of Devin Porter, 14, WSBT, ABC57, WIMS, and Hometown News Now reported. Michigan City police said Ballinger shot Porter on West 11th Street on May 15, 2026. Hometown News Now placed the shooting in the 300 block of West 11th Street and reported Porter ran inside a nearby home and collapsed on a bedroom floor. WIMS, citing the Michigan City Police Department's May arrest release, reported officers found Porter with a life-threatening gunshot wound about 4:30 p.m., that EMS took him to Franciscan Health Hospital in Michigan City, and that he later died of his injuries.

The verdict timing is consistent across the local outlets that covered the trial close. WIMS reported that on Wednesday, Oct. 7, it took a jury an hour to convict Ballinger of murder after a three-day trial in Michigan City. Hometown News Now, posting Oct. 8, reported the same one-hour deliberation and the Wednesday conviction. ABC57 reported he was originally taken into custody May 19 and that sentencing is Nov. 5. WSBT's Oct. 13 refresh stated the conviction, the May 15 shooting, that he was arrested days later, and the Nov. 5 sentencing date. A one-hour verdict after three days of evidence is a fast return. It is still a full jury finding.

Ballinger was arrested days after the shooting. WIMS reported detectives identified him during the investigation and that he was taken into custody in the 1200 block of Ohio Street on May 19 at about 11:15 a.m. La Porte County Circuit Court Judge Julianne Havens found probable cause on May 21 to charge him with one count of murder, WIMS reported, and he was held on a $1 million cash bond. Prosecuting Attorney Sean Fagan said after the verdict that probable cause for arrest is a low threshold and that the jury agreed the state met its higher burden at trial, WIMS reported. He credited Chief Deputy Guy DiMartino, Deputy Dennis Caviston, and the Michigan City Police Department's investigation. A prosecutor's post-verdict statement is advocacy after a win. It is not the jury instructions.

Hometown News Now reported a motive remains unclear. Indiana murder carries a sentencing range of 45 to 65 years, WIMS and Hometown News Now reported. Ballinger is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 5. The conviction stands. The term does not, until that hearing. Devin Porter was 14. He is named because this is a homicide prosecution. He is not pictured here. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.