The wife of a former pastor at the NewSpring Church in Anderson was shot Tuesday morning in Indianapolis.
Police say they found Amanda Blackburn unresponsive at her home on Sunnyfield Court shortly after 8:30am. IMPD said that they believe that she was shot in her home, during a robbery while trying to defend herself. Her 1-year-old son was unharmed.
Contrary to some reports, the Marion County Coroner Alsie Ballew tells 7 News that Blackburn has not died and is on a ventilator but that “death is imminent.”
Our affiliate WISH-TV in Indianapolis reports that neighbors told them that Amanda was 3-months pregnant at the time.
Amanda’s husband Davey spent four years on the staff of NewSpring Church in Anderson under Pastor Perry Noble. Davey served as a youth pastor, production director, and associated campus pastor before leaving to help found Resonate Church in Indianapolis in 2012.
7 News spoke with Amanda’s former co-workers in Greenville who are struggling with such a bad thing happening to such a good person.
“She was a person who was very bubbly, very bright and cheery, and literally would just light up a room when she walked in. The initial reaction was just a punch to the gut, it’s just completely unexpected, out of the blue and I’m really sad,” says Dan Hamilton, Amanda’s former co-worker.
While the coroner has not pronounced her death, her husband has acknowledged her passing in the following statement:
Resonate church released the following statement:
On behalf of the Blackburn family, we are so thankful for your prayers and support. For those who have been asking how to donate to the Blackburn Support Fund, you can do that by clicking here.
Everything you give will go directly to help with all expenses and next steps for Davey and Weston. Please continue to support them in your prayers. We love our church family!
According to WISH-TV, IMPD Commander Dawn Snyder said Wednesday, “Such a terrible thing happened yesterday and we want to make sure that everybody out here knows that we support them, that we are here, we’ve been here, and we’re going to keep coming here.” Snyder added, “What happened yesterday is pure evil. It is a terrible thing to happen to this family and to our community.” She continued, “It’s just pure evil. I know that we’re going to find the people responsible for this and they will be held accountable.”
Neighbor Bruce Harris was among the police officers as they held their roll call and the department’s chaplain prayed. Harris said he met Blackburn two weeks ago while going for a walk.
Harris said, “My neighbor told me. I didn’t know who it was and then he showed me a picture of her. I said, ‘Oh man! I just talked to her about two weeks ago in the neighborhood walking.’ I said, ‘Oh man! Really?!’ I was just shocked. And he said, ‘Yeah, she got shot in the back of the head.’” Harris also said, “I’m very, very heartbroken.”
While many in the community are still on edge about what happened to Blackburn, neighbors said they will fight back.
Neighbor Ryan McConnell said, “There’s a lot of things. There’s community awareness. There are different events we can go to. We can host different events. We’ve knocked on doors to communicate with all of the neighbors.”
Detectives continue to investigate the incident along with the Marion County Forensic Services Agency.
They were back at the home on Wednesday night to wrap up their investigation, but IMPD said they’re not restricting themselves to scene of the crime.
Neighbors also held a crime watch meeting. The crime watch captain, Ryan McConnell, said at least 60 people attended including the homicide detectives working the case. He said most neighbors had questions but some had more to say.
“Some neighbors discussed some new information that they may have witnessed and seen over the course of the time,” he said.
“(Neighbors) were encouraged to go through their yards, anything that you thought you may have seen, any descriptions of any car or person to let us know and we will look into it,” said Officer Diaz.
Besides helping with the investigation, neighbors also discussed ways to make sure this type of crime doesn’t happen again by communicating better with each other and police. They’re also reminding everyone to keep doors locked and garages closed, no matter the time of day.
“People are feeling afraid, they’re angry, they’re upset, they’re confused but I think we’re funneling all of that, all of those emotions into a coordinated action plan where we’re going to make some change,” said McConnell. “We’re not going to just lay down and let this sort of thing beat us.”
At this time no information has been released on the suspect(s).
