Staff Reports
Two Columbus residents died from single gunshot wounds to the head inside a northeast-side apartment during an apparent homicide-suicide, authorities said.
Dormarie Santiago Rolon, 33, of 5238 S. Lincoln Village Drive, died inside her apartment, where the shootings took place, according to the Bartholomew County Coroner’s Office.
Marlon A. Diaz, 39, also died at the scene, chief deputy coroner Clayton Nolting said.
Nolting said autopsies on the victims’ bodies conducted Monday afternoon by pathologist Dr. Thomas Sozio of Central Indiana Forensics Associates, Indianapolis, supported a preliminary cause of death for Diaz as a gunshot suicide. Final autopsy results are expected in about three weeks, Nolting said.
Police were called to Rolon’s home at Lincoln Village Apartments at 10:30 p.m. Sunday after receiving a 911 call reporting that shots had been fired, said Sgt. Matt Harris, Columbus Police Department spokesman.
Detective Bill Zeigler, chief investigator on the case, said Diaz was living off and on with a relative in a different unit at Lincoln Village Apartments, which is just south of 25th Street, between Taylor and Talley roads and east of Lockerbie Drive.
The victims were dead when police arrived at the scene, but that information was withheld until 4:45 a.m. Monday, when Harris reported that police were not seeking a suspect in the fatalities. Neighboring residents were then allowed back into their apartments.
Their families, including some in the Columbus area, were notified before identifications were made public, Nolting said.
Investigators did not immediately divulge information connecting Rolon and Diaz as detectives continued their investigation, Harris said.
The shootings occurred in a two-story apartment, where officers found both victims, Harris said. Two male children, one 7 years old and the other between 18 and 24 months old, also were inside the apartment at the time of the shooting but were removed unharmed, police said.
Family members and Child Protective Services were looking out for the welfare of the children Monday, Harris said.
About 10 detectives from the Columbus Police Department and Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department worked overnight investigating the case until leaving the shooting site about 9 a.m. Monday, he said.
Diaz had been booked into the Bartholomew County Jail on June 22 after he was arrested by Columbus police on charges of driving while intoxicated. Ziegler said that arrest was the only prior incident police were aware of involving the shooting suspect.
