Bryce Michael Leighton appears in a booking photo. (Monroe County Jail)
An Indiana man killed his girlfriend inside her home but claims it was self-defense and mostly a “blur,” authorities say.
Bryce Michael Leighton, 34, stands accused of murder for the death of Tara Langley, 48, who died from a lone gunshot wound to the head, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department.
In a terse initial press release over the weekend, the sheriff’s office said neighbors reported that the couple “often fight.”
Their last fight likely occurred on Friday night. During the early morning hours of the next day, sheriff’s deputies responded to what was first identified as an unknown disturbance. Law enforcement made the grim discovery in the home on East State Road 45.
Deputies also said they found what was described as an “AR-15-style rifle” and a “civilian-style stun gun/tazer” near the victim’s body.
The presence of the stun gun would prove a pivotal part of the story, the defendant later told investigators, according to court documents obtained by Indianapolis-based Fox affiliate WXIN.
On the night in question, a neighbor reported a suspicious person because a man was yelling outside well after midnight, those documents reportedly say. When officers arrived, they allegedly found Leighton outside, blood on his hands and his clothes, yelling incomprehensibly about his “baby.” Langley, in the garage, had a pool of blood collecting around her head.
According to investigators, the house was in a “general state of disarray.” Furniture, appliances, and glass were all broken.
When taken in for questioning, the defendant remained “hysterical and hard to understand,” deputies wrote in a probable cause affidavit.
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In response to a question about what happened, Leighton allegedly told investigators he was “having flashbacks,” began crying and said: “My baby, oh God.”
Eventually, he allegedly told law enforcement he was trying to leave when “she came at me.”
Leighton said Langley was drunk that night and mean, according to the affidavit. She was often mean when she drank, he allegedly said, and the victim’s episodes of boozing and ill behavior had gotten increasingly worse over the past few months.
Leighton said he was trying to get away from Langley’s aggressive behavior and was packing his suitcase when she used the stun gun on him after he had allegedly warned her not to, according to the affidavit obtained by WXIN.
“Everything just went into a blur,” he allegedly said, describing the ignition and pop of the electronic defense weapon.
Throughout the altercation, he had the gun in his hands, Leighton allegedly said. The two had been dating for the last seven years.
He has been accused of homicide before.
According to The Herald Times, Leighton spent several years behind bars for a 2010 incident where he was intoxicated and driving a stolen car when he caused a head-on collision with cab driver Gwendolynn Sanders, 31, who died at the scene.
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