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Police say video shows suspect in slaying of pastor’s pregnant wife

WXIN
This video screenshot provided by WXIN shows Amanda Blackburn and her 15-month-old son.

INDIANAPOLIS » Home surveillance cameras captured images of a male suspect who investigators believe broke into an Indianapolis home and fatally shot a pastor’s pregnant wife after burglarizing a neighbor’s home, police said Friday.

Detectives are seeking the public’s help in identifying the hoodie-wearing suspect in Amanda Blackburn’s killing. The suspect is a black male with a medium to light-brown complexion, slim to medium build and between 5-foot-4 and 5-foot-9, City police Capt. Craig Converse said during a news conference. His age isn’t known.

“We know who killed her. At least we have a picture of him, but we don’t know the name,” he said, adding that the suspect was seen near the Blackburn’s home.

Blackburn, 28, was shot in the head during the attack Tuesday morning and died the next day. She was 13 weeks pregnant, and the child did not survive, family spokeswoman Suzanne Swift said. The Blackburns also have a 15-month-old son, who Converse said was upstairs in a crib at the time of the attack.

Investigators believe the suspect, whom neighbors also reported seeing walking in the area, may have seen Blackburn’s husband, Davey, leave home about 6:10 a.m. Tuesday to go to a gym. That was shortly after the suspect allegedly burglarized a nearby house.

Davey Blackburn discovered his wounded wife when he returned home about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, police said.

At least three security cameras at other homes — including one inside the burglarized home — captured images of the suspect in what is a normally quiet neighborhood on the city’s northwest side near the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Maj. Eric Hench said police planned to release an image of the suspect.

A neighbor heard possible gunshots between 6:45 a.m. and 6:55 a.m. Tuesday and home security video shows a dark SUV speeding from the neighborhood, Hench said. Because “sizeable” televisions and a laptop were taken from the burglarized house, he said investigators believe those items “were likely loaded into a vehicle,” suggesting that others might have been involved.

But, Hench said, it’s unclear if the SUV seen in video footage is connected to the crimes.

Hench also said the suspect had left evidence behind and issued a statement directed at that person.

“You’re not as good as you think you are. You left behind evidence, we have found it and we will find you and we will not stop until we get you,” he said.

Amanda and Davey Blackburn moved from South Carolina to found the independent Resonate Church in 2012. Both are children of pastors.

The Rev. Charles Harrison, the leader of a black ministers group called the Ten Point Coalition that works to fight crime in Indianapolis, urged the public Friday to come forward with any information on Amanda Blackburn’s killing. He said residents need to overcome the “code of silence” that prevents some from approaching law enforcement with tips.

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