John Hood

Bloomington murder suspect arrested

Police: Woman shot husband in chest

POSTED AT 12:00 AM ON Aug. 24, 2007

A Bloomington man was shot and murdered Thursday night after a reported domestic dispute.

John Hood, 63, owner of Putter’s Park and Johnny Joe’s Pub in Ellettsville, was shot once in the chest, said Monroe County Det. Brad Swain.

Police believe his wife, Juanita, 52, shot him.

At about 11:30 p.m. the Monroe County Sheriff’s department received a 911 call from Hood’s daughter, saying Juanita Hood had told her she shot John Hood, Monroe County Det. Brad Swain said.

Monroe County dispatched state troopers to their house where emergency personnel determined John Hood to be dead at the scene, Swain said. After interviewing Juanita Hood, officers arrested her. She now faces preliminary charges of murder.

Swain said the sheriff’s department will be pursuing other issues to try and get a clearer picture of what happened.

Juanita Hood was transported to the Monroe County Jail and is being held without bond.

Update:

Juanita Hood sentenced to probation in shooting death of her husband

March 8, 2011

Juanita Hood endured years of abuse at the hands of her husband and was so frightened on an August night in 2007 that she shot him as he grabbed her by the throat....

Camdon Adam Huffman

Premature Baby Dies After Mother was Beaten and Gave Birth

Dear Camdon Adam Huffman was born August 28, 2007, prematurely, and died after mother was severely beaten by boyfriend.  She was from Madison County, Indiana.

(No other information could be found).

Shadonna D. Cheatham

Boyfriend Charged in Woman's Slaying

Police: Man shot her, held gun to his mouth

July 26, 2007

CROWN POINT | Prosecutors on Thursday charged Shadonna Cheatham's boyfriend with fatally shooting her.  Dia Nelson, 33, of Gary, faces 65 years in prison if convicted of murder.

Court records show Cheatham's mother was visiting her Thursday evening at the apartment Cheatham, 22, and Nelson shared.

The mother and daughter were outside talking when Cheatham went back inside, reports state. A short time later, the woman heard a gunshot from inside the apartment.

When she went inside, she saw Nelson's two children at the bottom of the steps calling up to their father. Cheatham's mother went upstairs and found Nelson standing in the bathroom with a handgun to his mouth threatening to kill himself, reports state.  Then she saw her daughter on the floor with a bullet wound to her head.

Nelson's children were coming up the stairs so she grabbed them and took them to a neighbor's house, where she called police, reports state.  She went back to her daughter's apartment and saw Nelson coming downstairs with the gun still in his mouth.

Another witness told police he saw Nelson go back into the apartment. When he came back out, Nelson said: "It was an accident. I didn't mean to do it," the probable cause affidavit states.

Also:

GARY | In what has been a busy week for Gary homicide detectives, police are looking for a suspect in the Friday morning shooting death of a 22-year-old woman.

Shadonna Cheatham was found at 4456 W. 24th Ave. with a gunshot wound to the head. Cheatham's mother told police she was outside the apartment when she heard a gunshot, went back inside and found her daughter shot in a bedroom, Cmdr. Samuel Roberts said.

The mother told police she saw the suspect holding a gun and saying he was going to kill himself, Roberts said. The man then left the apartment.

Cheatham was pronounced dead at 9:56 a.m. at the Methodist Hospitals Southlake Campus.

She is the fourth person killed in Gary this week. About 10 hours earlier, 27-year-old Kenyon Tarver was shot to death about three miles away.

Elijah Harris

Hammond couple charged in toddler's beating death

July 31, 2007 (WLS) -- A Northwest Indiana couple is charged in connection with the beating death of a toddler.

Twenty-three-month-old Elijah Harris died last Thursday after suffering traumatic brain injuries at a home in Hammond.  The child's mother, 29-year-old Angela Burgher , and the boy's stepfather, Dennis Burgher, each face four counts of child neglect.  Investigators say the toddler also had scalding burns on his body.

The mother and stepfather remained in custody Tuesday night.

Also:

CROWN POINT | Angela Burgher unfolded a crinkled piece of yellow paper Wednesday and read her apology for the circumstances leading up to her son's death.

The East Chicago woman's son, Elijah Harris, died in July 2007 of severe trauma to the head. He would have celebrated his second birthday a month later.

"I'm sorry to my children for not making better choices and decisions for them," Burgher said Wednesday in a shaky voice.

Burgher was sentenced Wednesday to an agreed term of 10 years in prison for felony child neglect that led to Elijah's death.

The 21-year-old woman, who also has another child, pleaded guilty in April in return for Lake County prosecutors dropping five other felony charges that included battery and neglect of a dependent.

Burgher admitted to watching her husband, Dennis Burgher, strike her son, Lake Criminal Court records show. She said she also noticed blisters and burns on Elijah's body but didn't do anything to get him help.

Angela Burgher also admitted she heard a "thump" while getting ready for work and found Elijah's body crumpled on the basement floor with Dennis Burgher standing nearby.

Dennis Burgher told her Elijah fell down the stairs, court records state. Angela Burgher left for work as usual.

Emergency responders to the Burghers' home said they found bruises to Elijah's forehead, lesions on both sides of his neck and untreated second-degree burns to his buttocks and groin. He wasn't breathing at the time, police said.

Both Burgher and her now estranged husband, Dennis, were charged with multiple felonies relating to Elijah's death.

Dennis Burgher, who was Elijah's stepfather, was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to felony neglect of a dependent.

He admitted to failing to seek medical attention for Elijah after he saw the little boy's injuries. Dennis Burgher did not admit to any abuse or violence.

Luiz A. Gonzalez

Hammond Man Killed in Domestic Violence Incident

LUIS A. GONZALEZ, age 36, of Hammond, Indiana passed away Saturday, July 21, 2007. (Ridgelawn Funeral Home).  He was shot and killed by 13 yr old male in domestic issue.

(No other information could be found.  Please comment if you'd like to add information for dear Luiz).

Mia K. Jones

Husband held in shooting

July 18, 2007

A Hobart man fatally shot his wife in the head Monday night while their two children -- including a 10-month-old baby -- were in the same apartment, police said Tuesday. Police say Tyrone Jones shot Mia K. Jones at the Lake in the Woods Apartment Complex. They lived at Apartment 735, 77 Neringa Lane.

At 11:36 p.m., a man suspected to be Jones called 911 saying he needed an ambulance for his wife, who had been shot.

Mia Jones was found inside her bedroom. Lake County Coroner's office pronounced her dead at the scene at 12:35 a.m.

Also:

A Hobart woman police said was shot and killed by her husband last week is being laid to rest today. Mia K. Jones' funeral is set for 11 a.m. Tuesday at Mount Moriah Baptist Church, 735 E. 20th Ave., in Gary, with burial to follow at Evergreen Memorial Park in Hobart.

Jones was 25. She had two sons with her husband, Tyrone Jones. The boys, ages 3 and 10 months, were inside the family's third-story apartment July 17, at the Lake in the Woods complex, when Tyrone Jones shot and killed his wife, police said.

Beverly A. Seavers

Mitchell Man Charged With Death Of His Wife

Last updated on Monday, July 09, 2007

(MITCHELL) - Indiana State Police and the Mitchell Police Department are investigating the death of a Mitchell woman.

30-year-old Marty Seavers was arrested Saturday and faces preliminary charges of reckless homicide in the death of his wife, Beverly Seavers. An early morning 911 call alerted police on the incident.

Seavers has been taken to the Lawrence County Security Center on the Class C felony.  The case has been referred to the Lawrence County Prosecutors office.

Also:

(BEDFORD) - 30-year-old Marty Seavers, of Mitchell, has been charged with murder in the death of his wife, 48-year-old Beverly A. Moffatt Seavers.

A probable cause affidavit states that Seavers admitted that he and his wife had been fighting and she would not stop yelling at him.

Police say Seavers put his hands around his wife's neck during the incident. An initial autopsy was performed and Beverly was found to have died from suffocation due to smothering.

Lawrence County Coroner John Sherrill will give a final cause of death once all testing from the autopsy is completed.  Marty Seavers remains in the Lawrence County jail on a $50,000 cash bond.

Archie Strickland Jr.

Dispute Ends in Fatal Shooting

July 18, 2007

While calling police for help quelling a nasty fight between her two grown sons Monday evening, Kathleen Strickland heard a gunshot.

Her older son, Archie Strickland Jr., 30, was shot. Her younger son, Andre Strickland, 22, was gone.

Archie died a short time later at Methodist Hospitals Northlake emergency room with a gunshot wound to his thigh. He was pronounced dead at 8:14 p.m., Lake County Coroner’s Chief Investigator Paul Castro said.

Andre was arrested at his girlfriend’s house in Brunswick on Monday night, but was released Tuesday by police after he was questioned.

Cmdr. Samuel Roberts said investigators believe Andre fired after his older brother, who suffered from bipolar personality and was recently released from a rehabilitation program, wouldn’t stop his attack.

“There’s an element of self-defense,” Roberts said.

Lake County prosecutors are reviewing the evidence, but no charges are expected to be filed against the younger Strickland brother.

Their mother, a radio dispatcher for the Gary Police Department, told investigators her sons were arguing downstairs in their Tolleston home when Archie began hitting Andre with his fists.

Despite her efforts to intervene, the battle continued. She went upstairs to call police when she heard the single gunshot, police said. Detective Lorenzo Davis presented the case to prosecutors Tuesday.

Jessica Janusas

Jessica Janusas

Jessica Janusas (15) and her stepfather were found dead in an apparent murder suicide

June 13, 2007

A man and his stepdaughter were found dead Monday night in what coroner's office officials are initially calling a murder-suicide.

Mickey Gordon, 42, and Jessica Janusas, 15, both of 519 N. Colfax, were found dead in the home, the Lake County coroner's office said. Gordon died of a gunshot wound to the head, and Janusas died from gunshot wounds to the body, officials said.

An autopsy, which is scheduled for this morning, and a police investigation will reveal more about the incident, a coroner's spokesman said.

Friends, classmates and teammates of Janusas, a Calumet High School student, gathered Monday night on lawns around the single-story home on Colfax, Griffith's eastern border with Calumet Township. Word of the deaths spread through cell phones Monday night.

"She was an honor student, a really good kid," said Melody Jackson, Lake Ridge Fire Department chief and mother of one of Janusas' friends.

A relative found the pair dead of gunshot wounds about 5 p.m. in the home, sheriff's Detective Robert Bridgeman said. The coroner's office received a call at 5:44 p.m., officials there said.

Bridgeman offered no comment on whether police are seeking any suspects. Police had spoken with no witnesses to the killings, he said.

"We're still trying to piece everything together," he said.

Janusas was a softball player and cheerleader, friends said. She was upbeat, they said.

"I don't think she was ever mad or sad," Jessa Musall said.

Those gathered had less to say about Gordon.

"I was really shocked when somebody told me it was Mickey," neighbor Larry Little said. Little said he went to Calumet Township High School and played softball with Gordon more than a decade ago.

"This is so sad," Little said.

Teens talked to reporters on lawns bathed in red and blue lights, but tried to block television cameras from filming the scene. They formed a human wall around the house about 9 p.m. They cheered when one child climbed on another's shoulders to block a camera. Jackson pulled her full-sized truck in front of the house.

Shayla Snedeker

Shayla Snedeker

Shayla Snedeker (19) was killed by her father in a double murder-suicide

June 9, 2008

A double murder-suicide has left neighbors shaken, and wondering what would make a father kill his wife and daughter, then turn the gun on himself.

Police were called to a home just north of Argos Monday morning.

Police say the husband and wife who lived there had ongoing marital problems and were in the process of getting divorced.

The crime scene tape is gone, but the question remains: Why did it have to end like this?

Dustin Younger stopped at the home to make sure what he had heard really happened.

"It tears me up," he told WSBT News.

He worked with Susan Snedecker.

"We were really close," he said. "She was like a second mother to me."

Police say overnight, Susan's husband Terry shot and killed her, their 19-year-old daughter Shayla, and then turned the gun on himself.

Their 12-year-old son made the gruesome discovery when he woke up.

"He was obviously upset and distraught about what had occurred here," explained Det. Lt. Ward Byers of the Marshall County police. "But he was being a very brave young man, and was able to sit down and talk with us about what occurred and what he observed when he woke up in the morning."

Neighbors were caught off guard.

"They were very good people," said neighbor Michael Hammond. "Terry had been sick, and I had been mowing his yard and stuff for him - just neighbor stuff. This was not anticipated."

Officials at the Argos Community Schools - where Shayla graduated from recently and the 12-year-old still attends - called in extra counselors and their crisis intervention team.

"I know the staff, the individual teachers, and so on are fielding a lot of individual questions and concerns," said Ronald Leichty of the Argos Community Schools.

Many in the small community are now asking why.

"Last time I was here everything was all good," Younger said. "It didn't seem like they had any problems or anything."

Shayla Snedecker was a student at Ancilla College. School officials say they're deeply distressed and still in a state of shock. They also have extra grief counselors on hand.


See post for dear mother Susan Snedeker here.

Tracy Parham

Gary man charged with killing, burying woman

21-year-old faces 65 years in prison if convicted of murder

May 31, 2007

CROWN POINT | A 21-year-old Gary man accused of bludgeoning a woman to death and then burying her in his backyard was charged Wednesday with murder.

Louis Vela turned himself in and confessed Tuesday, which led investigators to the body of Tracy Parham, 34, police said.

Officers on Tuesday evening found her naked body wrapped in contractors garbage bags in a grave near the garage at Vela's home, 3856 Van Buren St.

Vela reportedly told police he was smoking crack with Parham on March 11, his 21st birthday. When Parham refused to have sex with him, he bashed her in the head with a lead crystal clock, police and prosecutors say in court records.

When Parham did not wake up, Vela took her to his room and had sex with her, according to the court records.

Parham's body remained in Vela's bedroom while Vela went with family members to Taco Bell and a movie in Portage to celebrate his birthday, court records allege.

Later, in the dark, Vela wrapped Parham in the large plastic bags and dug a grave for her near his backyard garage, police allege.

But when Vela's aunt took him to visit his mother in a nursing home Tuesday, Vela broke down and told the women he had killed someone on March 11, court records say. His aunt encouraged him to turn himself in and accompanied him to the Gary police station.

Vela led police through the home, pointing out objects that likely will become evidence, including bedding, the clock and the shovel with which he buried Parham, police said.

Vela was jailed without bond and faces a maximum sentence of 65 years.

Parham's daughter, Sierra Parham, 13, told The Times on Wednesday that nothing she hears about her mother and how she died will change how she feels.

"No matter what, she was always the sweetest person. She was always there for me and had my back and took care of me like she needed to," Sierra said.

Johnette Parham, the victim's mother, said even though she hadn't heard from Tracy Parham in more than two months, she didn't file a missing person's report, hoping her daughter "went out of town with her boyfriend."

"I was praying that was the situation," Johnette Parham said.

She said she learned about her daughter's death from one of Vela's family members Wednesday. She said she did not know Vela, but she is glad Vela's aunt encouraged him to do the right thing.

"I think that was very courageous and honorable of them," Johnette Parham said. "I won't judge him; I'll let God judge him."

Angela Metheny

Angela Metheny

Police Say Man Killed Former Wife, Self in LaPorte County

Body in Michigan City parking lot leads to woman's body at home

April 11, 2007|By STAN MADDUX Tribune Correspondent

MICHIGAN CITY - Police say a man broke into the home he used to live in and fatally shot his ex-wife. He then drove to a church parking lot and killed himself.

That's the picture being drawn Wednesday by LaPorte County Police investigating a second double shooting in less than 24 hours.

Keith Metheny, 47, and Angela Metheny, 37, were divorced and he no longer lived in the couple's marital home at Hunter's Run, a subdivision along U.S. 20 north of LaPorte.

About 9 a.m. Tuesday, Michigan City officers were called to St. John's United Church of Christ near the U.S. 421 and U.S. 20 intersection.  Metheny was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head in a Jeep in the church parking lot, police said.

About five hours later, officers from Michigan City went to the couple's former marital home, where Angela Metheny still resided, to notify her about his death, said LaPorte County Sheriff Mike Mollenhauer.  They discovered a rear door on the walk-out basement had been forced open. Inside the residence police found Angela Metheny's body, also the victim of a fatal gunshot wound.

"All indications at this time are it appears connected," said Mollenhauer, who emphasized the investigation is continuing.

According to neighbors, Angela Metheny was employed in nursing care.  Keith Metheny was a welder at Jet Fabricators Inc. in Michigan City since 1994.

"He never missed work. He was very dependable. He was the last guy I would expect to do this," said Darrell Cleek, vice president in charge of production at the steel fabricating plant.

Also:

ROLLING PRAIRIE - Investigators continue to piece together the details of what happened sometime before 9:25 a.m. Tuesday when Keith Metheny, 47, was found dead of an apparent suicide in his Jeep parked at St. John's United Church of Christ, 101 St. John Road.

Later on Tuesday, Metheny's former wife, Angela, 37, was found dead when police went to her home in the Hunter's Run subdivision near U.S. 20 and Fail Road, west of Rolling Prairie, to notify her of the death.

Police said she had been shot in the head, but haven't said anything further in the case, which appears to be a murder-suicide.

The brother of Keith Metheny, Dennis Metheny, the Coolspring Township trustee and host of a cable talk show as well as co-host of a radio call-in show, declined to comment until autopsies were completed in South Bend today.

According to Superior Court records, Keith Metheny filed for divorce on March 7, 2003, after the couple separated on Feb. 20. The divorce was finalized March 1, 2006. The couple was married July 21, 1990, in Michigan City, and had no children.

The divorce decree awarded the house on Sportsman Lane and a 2002 Ford Taurus to Angela Metheny, and a 2003 Jeep Wrangler to Keith Metheny. The couple agreed to the division of other property.

Angela Metheny did not request to have her name restored to her maiden name of Avila. Her mother, Jeanette Avila, and a sister would not comment Wednesday, saying they were still in mourning.

The St. John's church office manager, who preferred not to be named, said Wednesday that she called Michigan City police at about 9 a.m. Tuesday, at the time the church's preschool started. A mother had dropped off her child and came to the church office to report that a Jeep was parked in the back of the lot with a man who was “either asleep or dead.”

The mother was concerned for the safety of children.

A short time later, a Comcast Cable employee whose child attends the preschool called 911 to report that he saw a man with a wound to the head inside the Jeep.

Michigan City police officer David Fleck arrived at the scene at 9:25 a.m. to begin an investigation that eventually led to the discovery of Angela Metheny at her home at 808 E. Sportsman Lane, in the Hunter's Run subdivision.

Neighbors across the street and immediately west of the Metheny home on Sportsman Lane also would not comment, saying they were close to both parties.

Jennifer Montejano

Woman Delivers Healthy Baby After Being Shot, Then Dies

25-Year-Old's Other 3 Children At Home During Shooting

January 8, 2007

EAST CHICAGO, Ind. -- A 25-year-old pregnant Indiana woman who was reportedly shot accidentally in the face by her boyfriend and then delivered a healthy baby girl late last month has died. (See update below)

Jennifer Montejano, of 3825 Elm St., in East Chicago, Ind. was pronounced dead at 8:45 p.m. Sunday at St. James Hospital and Health Centers in Olympia Fields, according to a spokesman from the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.

The shooting occurred Thursday, Dec. 28 when her boyfriend Fabian Gomez, 22, of Hammond, told authorities he had bought a box of bullets to fire on New Year's Eve, but accidentally shot Montejano during an argument in her Indiana Harbor apartment.

Despite being shot, she delivered a healthy 5-pound, 9-ounce baby girl at an Olympia Fields hospital an hour after the shooting.

Montejano, who was eight months pregnant, suffered a .38-caliber gunshot wound next to her nose. Montejano's three young children were in the apartment when the shooting occurred, police said.

Information regarding charges was not immediately available Monday morning.

UPDATE:

Murder Charge Filed Eight Months After Pregnant Woman Dies
By the Associated Press
9/29/2007

The boyfriend of a pregnant woman who was shot in the face now faces a murder charge in connection with her death.

Fabian Gomez, 23, of Whiting also is charged with aggravated battery, battery and criminal recklessness. Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter announced the new charge Friday.

Jennifer Montejano, 25, of East Chicago was eight months pregnant when she was shot Dec. 28, suffering a .38-caliber gunshot wound that left her in a coma for more than a week before she died.

The night she was shot, doctors delivered a 5-pound, 9-ounce girl by emergency Caesarean section.

Gomez told police he had bought a new box of bullets to fire on New Year's Eve but accidentally shot Montejano during an argument in her apartment.

The victim's family said earlier this year that they wanted murder charges filed against Gomez.

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.”

Anthony Willis

Man dead after stabbing

December 10, 2006

Indianapolis - Anthony Willis of Indianapolis was stabbed early Sunday morning at a house in the 3300 block of East 30th Street and died later at a local hospital.

According to police Willis and his girlfriend, 38-year-old Karen Miller were in a dispute when Miller stabbed him in the upper left shoulder. The wound was not very deep but severed an artery.

Miller did not not call for help immediately. She did summon help 30 to 45 minutes later and Willis was transported to Wishard Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

It is the 101st homicide of the year in IPD jurisdiction.