Indianapolis, Indiana: Two Found Dead at Moller Road Apartment in Possible Murder-Suicide, Family Identifies Woman

Two people were found dead inside a northwest side apartment in Indianapolis on Thursday morning, October 22, and police said the case is a possible murder-suicide. The woman's family identified her on Friday, October 23, and said her two young children were inside when the violence happened and ran to a neighbor for help.

Police were dispatched at about 8 a.m. on Thursday to the 4400 block of Moller Road, near West 46th Street, on a report of a person shot, the Indianapolis Star reported. Officers found a man with gunshot injuries and a woman who had suffered trauma, said Officer Tommy Thompson, the department's public information officer. Both were dead at the Colonial Square Apartments.

What police say happened

Thompson said police believe the man is responsible for both deaths, though investigators were still working on Thursday to determine what happened and what the relationship between the two was, the Star reported. Two guns were recovered at the scene, The Indianapolis Focal reported.

The Focal, citing the family and neighbors, reported that investigators believe the man shot the woman before taking his own life. Relatives told the Focal the man was the woman's former boyfriend and was not the father of her children.

The family speaks on Friday

On Friday, October 23, The Indianapolis Focal said the family identified the woman as a 26-year-old mother of two who was studying to become a nurse and had recently landed a job at IU Health.

"She was loving. She loved her kids," her cousin told the Focal. The cousin said the family plans to care for the children.

Multiple children were present, Thompson said. "I can't imagine what children present in a situation like this are going through," he said, in remarks reported by the Star.

The response at the complex

Department of Child Services staff and a chaplain were at the scene on Thursday, along with homicide investigators, forensic staff and coroner's office staff, the Star reported. Thompson said the trauma reaches beyond the apartment, and he urged people who are struggling to think about the lasting impact on others, in remarks reported by the Star.

A week of domestic violence deaths in Indianapolis

Danyette Smith, vice president of the Indianapolis Public Safety Foundation, told the Focal that this killing was among nine domestic violence homicides in Indianapolis over the previous week. She urged people seeking help to keep contacting service providers if they are turned away or told no space is available.

The Star reported that the Moller Road case is Indianapolis' fourth investigation in October where two people have died. On October 11, police found an 80-year-old man and his wife dead at their Lakeshire Lane home. On October 14, a 42-year-old woman was fatally shot at a Discovery Drive home in an apparent murder-suicide. On October 19, police found a 33-year-old mother and her 9-year-old son dead in the Eagle Creek area.

Thompson encouraged anyone in a mental health crisis to reach out for help, the Star reported. City-County Council President Maggie Lewis encouraged people to contact 988, the national suicide and crisis hotline, and said, "Please check on your people," in a release quoted by the Star.

The investigation is still open, and police had not released the man's name by Friday morning.