Coroner: Homicide suspect died of self-inflicted gunshot

COLUMBUS, Ind. — A Columbus man who is believed to have fatally shot his cousin died Thursday night from a single gunshot wound, the Bartholomew County coroner said.

The sounds of gunshots in the vicinity of 15th Street and Lafayette Avenue in Columbus were reported at 8:47 p.m. Thursday, when Brian F. Mitchell, 44, is suspected of shooting his cousin, Kelly R. Baker, 43, behind the home where they lived, Coroner Clayton Nolting said Saturday.

Within minutes afterward, Mitchell likely went inside his home at 1518 Lafayette Ave. and shot himself with a .45-caliber handgun, which is now in the possession of the Columbus Police Department, Nolting said.

Preliminary results of the autopsy for Mitchell, conducted Saturday at Columbus Regional Hospital, showed that he died of a penetrating gunshot wound to the left side of his chest, the coroner said.

Preliminary autopsy results for Baker, conducted in Marion County, indicated she died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, Nolting said.

 

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Baker’s death is being considered a homicide, he said.

Final autopsy and toxicology reports are expected in about two weeks, Nolting said.

Read more details in Sunday’s Republic.

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9 p.m. Thursday: Residents report hearing gunshots in the vicinity of Lafayette Avenue and 15th Street in Columbus. Upon arriving, police find Kelly R. Baker, 43, who suffered gunshot injuries.  Baker is taken to Columbus Regional Hospital, then to Indiana University Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

11:50 p.m.: Baker is pronounced dead at the Indianapolis hospital.

2 a.m. Friday: About five hours after emergency units including a SWAT team arrived, a surveillance robot placed inside the home provided images of Brian F. Mitchell, 44, lying still in a bedroom. After entering the home, police determined that he was dead.

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