Affidavit: Children Present When Woman Attacked By Husband
CUMBERLAND TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Authorities arrested and charged a Greene County man Friday with the murder of a jail guard -- his wife.
The body of Melissa Baker, 30, was discovered inside a mobile home on Crucible Road in Cumberland Township some time after 6 p.m., according to police reports. Police said Baker died of apparent trauma to the throat.
It was after Baker didn't appear for work as a corrections officer at the Greene County Prison when she was found.
"I was devastated when I got the phone call yesterday that they had found Officer Baker deceased. She's a very good officer, had been with us about a year," Greene County Prison Warden Harry Gillispie said.
Neighbors told WTAE Channel 4 Action News that Baker had just moved in a month ago with her 18-month-old son.
"She has a little boy. She would let him stand up on the railing and look at the dogs because he liked the dogs. Other than that, she was a very nice person, you know?" said Theresa Rankin, a neighbor.
Gillispie said Baker was an exceptional officer.
"I was devastated when I got the phone call yesterday that they had found Officer Baker deceased. She's a very good officer."
- Greene County Prison Warden Harry Gillispie
"She had been to the Department of Corrections Training Academy (and) did an excellent job there. As a matter of fact, we were looking at training her to become a shift supervisor down the road because of her work ethic, her work attitude, that type of thing," Gillispie said.
After interviewing witnesses, police arrested the victim’s husband, Scott Baker, 37, whose vehicle was witnessed at the scene, and charged him with criminal homicide.
According to a police affidavit, Scott Baker took his 12-year-old son and the couple's boy to Melissa Baker's home Friday afternoon. The couple were going through a divorce, and Melissa Baker already had a protection from abuse order against Scott Baker.
The affidavit states Scott Baker ordered his son take the baby to his room. When the 12-year-old came out, he heard Melissa Baker scream and saw Scott Baker on top of her with his arm over her mouth.
Melissa Baker lay motionless on the ground as Scott Baker left with the two children, the affidavit states. When they returned to the home, the affidavit alleges Scott Baker told the children to wait in the truck while he made the scene appear like a robbery.
On her MySpace page, Melissa Baker wrote she had a wonderful husband and two great boys. Her husband faces a preliminary hearing scheduled for Dec. 12 and remained held Saturday at the Greene County Jail without bail.
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