Debra Aynes

Debra Aynes

Friend: Woman’s ex a bit controlling, but not violent

Pendleton diner closes temporarily after shooting deaths

By Christina M. Wright The Herald Bulletin, July 31, 2010

PENDLETON — A woman allegedly shot by her ex-boyfriend — who then reportedly killed himself — had split with the man because she wanted to be her own person, said the woman’s best friend and business partner.

“I think she still cared for him and they were just growing apart,” Donna Cantrell said Saturday afternoon. “She had things that she wanted to for herself and her family.”

Pendleton police said in a news release that Robert Jones, 56, of Madison County, entered The Diner (sometimes called Deb & Donna’s) with a revolver and a semi-automatic handgun at about 5 a.m. Saturday. He confronted his ex-girlfriend, Debra Aynes, 51, co-owner of the place, then shot her before turning the gun on himself, the police said.

Cantrell briefly spoke Saturday afternoon about Aynes’ winning personality and her recent attempts to be a better grandmother.

She stood outside the taped-off diner as a crew from Aftermath Inc. worked inside the building and former employees comforted each other outside.

A bright-orange poster hung in the front window next to a painting of a grinning chef that read: “Closed until notice. We lost our beloved Deb today. We will miss you and remember you forever. Love you.”

“She had a natural energy,” Cantrell said, eyes glistening. “She was just full of energy.”

Cantrell said the best friends of 20 years worked at a declining restaurant 14 years ago and decided to open The Diner on customers’ suggestions. She said the two worked together well, and both loved the diner.

In fact, Cantrell said, the love for the business was why she believed Aynes couldn’t have thought Jones would become violent after their break-up. She said Saturday was Aynes’ first day back to work since leaving Jones on Wednesday.

“I know, if she felt like he was a danger, she wouldn’t have brought it to work,” Cantrell said. “She wouldn’t have brought it to the diner.”

Cantrell speculated that most employees and friends wouldn’t have thought Jones would be capable of what he’s alleged to have done Saturday, Cantrell said.

She said it was well-known that Jones spun tall-tales, but no one seemed to view him as dangerous. Cantrell said there was no previous domestic violence.

Friends, Cantrell said, recognized that Jones was a bit controlling, but not overly so.

“It wasn’t to the point that she couldn’t go anywhere,” Cantrell said. “It was just, he wanted her spare time to be his. ... And he was good at spinning ideas to where she thought they were hers.”

Cantrell said Saturday evening she would call Jones’ son to ask if he would like to comment on events, but the son had not contacted The Herald Bulletin by publication time.

It was the draw of spontaneity, freedom and, mostly, a relationship with the children of her three children that finally pushed Aynes to call her relationship quits after 25 years, Cantrell said.

“In getting her own business and getting her own way, I think she thought it was time,” Cantrell said, adding that Jones wasn’t comfortable around children and Aynes yearned to have her grandchildren spend the night with her.

Cantrell said Jones wanted Aynes to call off the breakup. She said the one waitress and one customer in the diner Saturday morning said they’d heard Aynes say, “I’ll come back home.”

The customer was a regular who often made it to the restaurant even before the waitresses and made coffee for Aynes, Cantrell said. She said the customer and waitress were “pretty shaken up.”

Co-owner Cantrell, who wasn’t at the business Saturday morning when the tragedy occurred, later found unfinished gravy in the kitchen, which told her Aynes had just gotten to work.

“Coming around the bend and seeing all the lights, it just made you realize it was true,” she said. “I was hoping it was somebody’s really sick joke.”

John W. Ward

Woman charged with fatally shooting husband while he slept

December 23, 2006

ANDERSON, Ind. (AP) — Prosecutors have filed a murder charge against a woman accused of shooting her husband in his sleep. Kathy Jo Ward, 36, was being held without bond Saturday in the Madison County Jail. A not guilty plea was entered on her behalf Friday by a county magistrate.

Ward was arrested Monday after going to her parents' home and telling them she had killed her husband, 43-year-old John W. Ward, at their home in Pendleton, about 20 miles northeast of Indianapolis, police said. Documents filed by prosecutors Friday allege that Kathy Ward killed her husband hours after an argument in which he admitted drug use and infidelity and told her she should be checked for sexually transmitted diseases.

On Monday, the morning following the confrontation, Kathy Ward got a gun out of her car, went back inside and shot her husband while he slept, the documents allege. One of her attorneys, Bryan Williams, said Friday that additional details would emerge when the case went to trial.

UPDATE:

June 29, 2007

Ward guilty of voluntary manslaughter

Distress over a crumbling marriage and fear of a violent husband transformed Kathy Jo Ward from a responsible wife and mother into a killer.

A jury found Ward, 37, guilty of voluntary manslaughter Friday in the December 2006 shooting death of her husband, John W. Ward. Madison Circuit Court Judge Frederick Spencer has set sentencing at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 15.

The charge carries a mandatory sentence of 20 to 50 years in prison. Ward was originally charged with murder, which carries a sentence of 45 to 65 years.

Jurors returned the verdict Friday after more than three hours of deliberation. In a post-trial conference with attorneys on both sides, the jury cited “sudden heat” for making the offense less severe.

“Her frame of mind,” one juror responded, when asked his reason for the lesser charge, “the rage in her.”

The trial revealed a marriage in disarray. John Ward was actively looking for an apartment while his wife pursued a divorce. During an argument-filled weekend in which he smoked crack and spent nights away from home, Ward told his wife he never loved her and had been unfaithful.

The defense team of Bryan Williams and Jeffrey Lockwood said Ward feared for her safety; her husband was an “intimidator and a manipulator” who had previously used violence against women. They said Ward was experiencing a rush of emotion known as “sudden heat,” considered a mitigating factor in cases of wrongful death.

All along, however, the prosecution insisted Ward’s “knowingly and intentionally” killed her husband.

“The evidence will show that this was not sudden heat,” Madison County Deputy Prosecutor Patrick Ragains said in closing arguments. “What happened the night before, I believe the evidence will show, was over. She was a little late.”

Ward’s 15-year-old son, Michael, sobbed in the courtroom after the verdict was read.

“I just want my mom back,” he said, as his maternal grandfather and other family members comforted him.

With good behavior, Ward could spend less than 10 years in prison.

“The difference for her is that Michael will still be a young man when he gets out,” Bryan Williams said. “He won’t be a middle-aged man. She’ll be there for most of his life.”

Co-defender Jeffrey Lockwood said he was unsure whether the verdict would be appealed.

“It’s too early to say. We still have sentencing and the appeal could depend on that,” he said. “We also have to talk to (Ward) and determine whether she wants to pursue an appeal. Another lawyer may even represent her in that.”

During closing arguments, deputy prosecutor Ragains asked jurors to find Ward guilty of murder, saying her actions did not suggest sudden heat.

“He said a lot of hurtful things to her,” Ragains said. “Did she go down right away and get the gun? That’s consistent with sudden heat, consistent with involuntary manslaughter. That didn’t happen.”