In the winter of 2017, the life of 33-year-old Eric Antione Hearn was tragically cut short in what would become the first homicide in Allen County for that year. On the morning of Tuesday, January 10th, Fort Wayne police were called to the Country Hearth Inn on Goshen Road following reports of a shooting. Inside one of the hotel rooms, which Hearn had rented the previous day, officers made a grim discovery. Eric Hearn, a male, was found deceased, having suffered from at least one gunshot wound. The Allen County Coroner's Office later officially ruled his death a homicide.
The investigation into Hearn's death took a complex turn when authorities announced a possible connection to another homicide that occurred just a day later. The victim in the second case, Stephania Bartlett, was found shot to death behind a home on Sherman Boulevard. Investigators revealed that they had evidence placing Bartlett in the very same hotel room where Hearn's body had been discovered. This crucial piece of information suggested that the two murders were linked, opening up new avenues in the investigation as police sought to understand the events that transpired over those two fateful days.
Despite the potential breakthrough of connecting the two cases, the investigation into who was responsible for Eric Antione Hearn's death has not led to a resolution. As of late 2025, there has been no public announcement of any arrests made or suspects identified in his murder. The case, along with the subsequent killing of Stephania Bartlett, has left a cloud of unanswered questions. The police have appealed to the public for any information that might shed light on the circumstances surrounding these two interconnected and tragic deaths, leaving a family and a community still waiting for justice.
