On a tragic Valentine's Day in 2019, 40-year-old Heidi Eve Krotzer Pierce, a White female from Akeley, Minnesota, was killed in a violent encounter in the nearby town of Nevis. The incident, which unfolded on the evening of February 14th, also claimed the life of her 37-year-old sister, Candi Cheryl Goochey. Both women died from gunshot wounds in what was determined to be a homicide.
The events began to unfold around 8 p.m.
at a residence on Paul Bunyan Trail in Nevis, which also served as an in-home daycare. An argument broke out when Heidi and her sister arrived at the home. The suspect, identified as 34-year-old Bryce Anthony Bellomo, the husband of their other sister, opened fire on them. Authorities responding to a 911 call about the shooting discovered one of the sisters deceased in the driveway. Bellomo had fled the scene in the victim's car, with the other sister, who had also been shot, inside the vehicle.
A police pursuit of Bellomo lasted for approximately 20 minutes. During the chase, Bellomo fired at law enforcement vehicles, injuring a sheriff's deputy. The pursuit ended when Bellomo's vehicle went into a ditch on a county road southeast of Nevis. He then got out of his vehicle and exchanged gunfire with a deputy. After the shootout, Bellomo was found deceased in his vehicle. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office later confirmed that Bryce Bellomo's death was a suicide from a gunshot wound. Bellomo had been charged with domestic assault involving his wife the previous year and had reportedly been served with divorce papers earlier that month.
