Robert Cooley (Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department)
A 25-year-old man in Indiana has been arrested after he allegedly killed his wife only five weeks after the birth of their child, beating, slashing, and shooting the kindergarten teacher inside of their home before calling 911 and telling police that he “did something bad.”
Robert Cooley was taken into custody on Saturday and charged with one count of murder in the slaying of 26-year-old Amber Cooley, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, officers with the Northwest District at about 7:20 a.m. on June 1 responded to a residence in the 3000 block of Armory Lane after receiving a report of a person being shot.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they located an adult female — later identified as Amber Cooley — in the upstairs bedroom of the home. She appeared to have suffered “injuries consistent with a gunshot wound(s)” and was pronounced dead on the scene by emergency medical personnel.
Her husband, Robert Cooley, was on the scene when police showed up and was quickly taken into custody without incident. He was transported to the department’s Homicide Office for questioning and, after consulting with the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, charged with murder.
A probable cause affidavit obtained by the Indianapolis Star provided additional details about the shooting and Robert Cooley’s alleged confession.
According to the report, as soon as officers pulled up to the couple’s home, they saw Robert Cooley exiting the residence through an opened garage door to greet them. He was reportedly wearing clothing that was covered in blood when he approached them and offered a cryptic confession.
“I did something bad,” he allegedly said to the officers. “I need to go to jail.”
As officers were walking him away from his house, body worn camera footage showed Robert Cooley saying, “I took my wife’s life,” the Star reported.
In a subsequent interview with detectives, police say that Robert Cooley admitted to beating and cutting his wife before ultimately shooting her in the head, Indianapolis CW affiliate WISH reported. The report noted that police said Amber Cooley’s throat had been slit and her face was beaten so badly that she was virtually unrecognizable.
Robert Cooley’s brother told police that Robert Cooley used FaceTime to call him Saturday morning and said, “I just killed Amber, bro,” per WISH.
Police said they also found an infant inside of the home. Police did not state the child’s relationship to the Cooley’s, but Amber Cooley’s parents told WISH that their daughter had given birth to the couple’s first child about five weeks earlier.
Amber Cooley’s mother also said that Robert Cooley had been verbally abusive to her daughter over the course of their five-year relationship.
Additionally, the victim’s parents told WISH that one day before her death, Amber Cooley had asked her mother to get her a petition for dissolution of marriage.
“We think he tried to confront her and she told him something he didn’t want to hear,” Amber Cooley’s father, Corey Cooley, told the station.
Robert Cooley is currently being held in the Marion County Jail without bond.
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