In the early morning hours of September 20, 2018, a domestic argument in a New Haven, Indiana, home escalated into a tragedy that claimed the life of 24-year-old Courtney Marie Brown. The female victim was a graduate of New Haven High School and a devoted mother.
The incident began when Courtney's husband, Wiley Brown III, came home, and the two started arguing while their two young children were asleep in the house.
According to Wiley's account to the police, he became emotional and started crying. When Courtney attempted to comfort him with a hug, he pushed her away.
He then retrieved his wife's gun from a closet and contemplated suicide, firing one shot into the floor. Courtney tried to intervene and take the gun from him. As she grabbed for his left hand, repeating his name, he fired two more shots. One of the bullets struck Courtney in the forehead, killing her.
After the shooting, Wiley Brown III called his father to come and pick up the children. He then briefly went to a friend's house and confessed what he had done before driving to the New Haven Police Department around 2:30 a.m. and turning himself in. Upon entering the station, he told an officer, 'I killed my wife'. Police arriving at the couple's home found the front door open and discovered Courtney Brown's body, with a man's wedding ring, a handgun, and spent shell casings nearby.
Wiley Brown III was arrested and charged with murder and held at the Allen County Jail without bail. He later pleaded guilty and in March 2019, was sentenced to 50 years in prison, to be followed by five years of probation.
