Jennifer Parrett

Jennifer Parrett

Man kills girlfriend, then self

Mom shot leaving Wabash home with 2 sons in car

Published: March 10, 2010 3:00 a.m.

Holly Abrams
The Journal Gazette

A Wabash man shot his girlfriend to death – while she was backing her car out of their driveway with their two children in tow – before killing himself Monday, police said.

Wabash County officials have ruled the deaths a homicide-suicide. Jennifer Parrett, 27, and Ryan Hunt, 30, each died of a single gunshot wound, Coroner Carol Whitesel said.

Police were called to their home at 745 Courtland Ave. in Wabash just after 6:30 p.m. Monday. A next-door neighbor saw a vehicle crash into a tree stump outside the home, Wabash police detective Jim Kirk said.

The neighbor called 911 before seeing Hunt shoot himself in the head in a grassy area about 50 yards from the driveway, Kirk said.

An officer arrived at the home moments before Hunt took his life, although the officer did not witness the suicide. A .410 bore shotgun was found on the ground next to Hunt’s body, along with an empty shell casing, Kirk said.

Moments earlier, Hunt shot Parrett as she tried to back out of the driveway. Parrett was shot in her left armpit through the driver’s-side window. The Chevrolet Lumina sedan she was driving rolled into a stump in the home’s yard after she was shot.

The couple’s two sons, ages 3 and 4, got out of the car and ran into the home, Kirk said.

It was at that time police received the 911 call, he said.

The slaying was the result of a domestic dispute the couple had after Parrett arrived at the home with the boys so that Hunt could visit them, Kirk said. Police declined to release additional details on the dispute.

After shooting his girlfriend, Hunt made a call to a family member, telling that person what he had done and that he was going to kill himself, Kirk said. The relative pleaded with Hunt not to do anything to himself, police said.

Police said Parrett and Hunt had dated for about seven years and had an “on-and-off relationship.” Police had been called to that same Courtland Avenue home in December to stand by as Parrett said at the time she was moving out of the home.

Some of Parrett’s belongings were found in the car Monday, police said.

Both Parrett and Hunt were pronounced dead at the scene. The couple’s children are staying with other family members, police said.

Parrett’s death is the second Wabash County homicide in less than a year.

The last one was in June.