photo by: Mugshot courtesy of Montgomery County, Indiana, Sheriff's Office

Chadwick Elliott Potter is pictured with the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center

Story updated at 4:38 p.m. Friday, July 14:

An Indiana man has been formally charged with murder in connection with a body found near downtown Lawrence, and records indicate that he has had multiple encounters with law enforcement over the years.

The man, Chadwick Elliott Potter, 34, was originally charged with one count of first-degree murder but is now charged with one count of second-degree murder instead, according to an amended complaint filed Friday in Douglas County District Court. The charge is in connection with the death of David Blaine Sullivan, 62, of Lawrence. Sullivan’s body was found around 10:45 a.m. Wednesday in the bushes on the northwest corner of the intersection of Sixth and Vermont streets. Potter was apprehended behind a building near 19th and Massachusetts streets Thursday evening, as the Journal-World reported.

Sullivan’s body was found on the south end of the Kansas River Bridge less than a quarter mile from the city-sanctioned campsite for the homeless; however, Laura McCabe, a spokesperson for the City of Lawrence, told the Journal-World that neither man was registered as living at the site. McCabe said that Potter did not have a Lawrence address on file but had an Indiana driver’s license when he was arrested.

Police said that Sullivan had suffered traumatic injuries after being struck with a blunt object, and McCabe said she did not know if Sullivan and Potter knew each other.

photo by: Montgomery County, Indiana, Sheriff’s Office

Chadwick Elliott Potter in January of 2020.

Potter appeared in court on Friday, where he was appointed defense attorney John Kerns and his bond was set at $1 million. In arguing for the million-dollar bond, Deputy District Attorney Joshua Seiden said that police and witnesses had reported seeing Potter brandishing a hatchet and threatening people at around the time the homicide occurred; he did not specify what time that was.

Seiden also argued that Potter was a flight risk because he had been known to have lived in multiple other states, including Florida, Arizona, Tennessee, Indiana and Wisconsin. Potter said that he was homeless and would not be able to bond out of jail.

Indiana court records indicate that a Chadwick Elliott Potter with the same birthdate as the suspect has had multiple run-ins with law enforcement dating back to 2006 for charges including theft and multiple DUIs. Records indicate he has had a pending warrant in Montgomery County, Indiana, since May 2022.

In July 2022, a Chadwick Elliott Potter with the same date of birth and physical description was charged in Osage County, Florida, with armed robbery. According to an affidavit in support of that arrest, Potter, listed as a transient, allegedly threatened a store clerk with a large stick as he stole beer from the store. He was arrested by police at the Greyhound bus station. On the way to the police station he began bashing his head against the patrol vehicle’s window until he was bleeding and was taken to the hospital, according to the affidavit. Potter was then additionally charged with misdemeanor theft and resisting arrest.

Sullivan also has a criminal history with multiple felony convictions in Leavenworth County for aggravated battery in connection with an incident in 2003, burglary in 1980, and theft and burglary in 1978.

photo by: Contributed

David Blaine Sullivan

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office declined to release Potter’s booking photo. Potter’s next court date is scheduled for July 25.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Police vehicles surround the scene of a body found on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, at the intersection of Sixth and Vermont streets. The man’s body was found around 10:45 a.m.