BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (IUSTV News) - A trial date has been set for the man accused of shooting and killing his long-time girlfriend in November at their northern Bloomington home.
Bryce Leighton, 34, will face a jury beginning April 1, according to online court records. A final pretrial conference is scheduled for March 21.
BACKGROUND
On Nov. 4, officers responded to a home along E SR 45 around 1:30 a.m. for reports of a man shouting outside. Court documents say that when officers arrived, they found Leighton in front of the home and had “a bright red liquid consistent with the appearance of blood” on his clothes and hands.
When officers entered the home, they reported finding a woman, later identified as 48-year-old Tara Langley, dead on the floor of the garage.
“She came at me,” wielding a stun gun court documents say Leighton told police in an interview at the Monroe County Jail, and that “everything just went into a blur.” When asked if he was holding the gun at the time, court documents say Leighton answered “yes”.
Upon further review of the crime scene, police say that Leighton was standing “just inside the exterior door of the garage,” when the gun went off.
If convicted, Leighton faces anywhere from 45 years to life in prison.
