UPDATE (9/11/2023): The man arrested in connection to the truck stop stabbing has been released from jail and all his charges dismissed after the Hendricks County Prosecutor’s Office determined the man acted in self-defense.

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CLAYTON, Ind. — Hendricks County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a Monrovia man who has been charged with the murder of a fellow employee. The incident occurred at a TA truck stop by I-70 and State Road 39 near Clayton Saturday night.

Investigators reported that Darin Lee Simpson, a 33-year-old from Martinsville who worked at the truck stop, was fatally stabbed by a coworker.

Simpson’s family told FOX59 and CBS4 that the assault was the result of a social media argument that got out of hand.

Hayden Shores, who witnessed the incident and later tried to save Simpson’s life, said he saw an altercation in the parking lot before the stabbing happened. He added that he later heard a woman inside the store screaming, “‘A man’s been stabbed. He’s been stabbed. Oh my God!'”

Shores said he eventually ran inside and found the victim laying on the floor. He added that he and another woman attempted to perform CPR on Simpson.

”The first thing I see is the blood all over the floor,” Shores said. “And I flip him over, and he’s fighting me because it hurts, and there’s two stab wounds right below his rib cage, and there’s just blood coming out. We just try to calm him down, ‘Hey, stay with me, stay with me,’ because at this point, he’s lost so much blood he’s not really coherent.

”At this point, he’s just saying, ‘Oh, I can’t breathe. It hurts. It hurts.’ He’s screaming a lot. We’re trying to reassure him. ‘Think of your kids. Think of your wife. And your wife’s right here. Look at her. Look at me. Stay with us.’ I’m putting pressure on the wound. He’s fighting.”

Shores said twice Simpson lost consciousness and was brought back by CPR before sheriff’s deputies facilitated his transportation via ambulance to an Indianapolis hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

”I stand in the lobby for about five more minutes, and then I see a young black man probably mid-20s get taken away in handcuffs by a deputy,” Shores said. “He gets taken out and put in a patrol car. It was a quarrel over something. They had a beef going on.”

A woman who said she represented the accused man’s family told FOX59 and CBS4 that the accused man was defending his girlfriend, who is also an employee of the truck stop, from an assault by Simpson. The woman said the accused man stabbed Simpson in self-defense.

Shores said he just happened to be inside the truck stop at the time of the stabbing because he’s been living in his car with his girlfriend as she works at another nearby truck stop. Shores said he was filling his water bottle when the attack occurred.

”And I’m trying to kind of rest easy with the knowledge that we did everything we could do,” Shores said. “We didn’t save his life, but we gave him more time. The time that we gave him, the only things that he was thinking about was his kids and his wife. That reassures me that we did everything that we could do.”