DEKALB COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) – A judge ruled Tuesday that a man charged with murder in the death of an Indiana State Trooper will be granted a change of venue for the trial. The trial for Terry DeWaine Sands II, of Marion, is now set to take place in Wabash County.

If a jury trial is planned, that will be scheduled for March 4 to March 15, 2024. The public defender for Sands filed the change of venue request in May.

Bailey was killed in the line of duty on March 3. The 50-year-old trooper from Auburn was deploying stop sticks to deter Sands, who was speeding on Interstate 69 when he hit Bailey.

Sands claimed the officer ran in front of him, according to DeKalb Superior Court documents. He also told police he smoked marijuana within an hour of the crash and was on his way to buy more marijuana in Michigan.

Sands was initially charged with resisting law enforcement causing death, a Level 2 felony. A week after the crash, Sands was formally charged with murder.

Terry Sands
Photo of Terry Sands provided by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Dept.

Sands also faces charges of operating with a controlled substance causing death, a Level 4 felony, and a misdemeanor count of resisting law enforcement.

Sands also filed a motion Tuesday seeking funds to hire a mitigation specialist who will look into his whole life to see if there are mitigating circumstances that should keep him from getting a stiffer penalty should he be found guilty of murder in the killing of Master Trooper James Bailey.

That motion will be discussed in court on Aug. 22.

The video above shows Sands arriving at court back in March.