By Lauren Pack, Staff Writer
Updated 1:05 AM Thursday, April 15, 2010
HAMILTON — The Trenton man accused of killing his wife in the bedroom of their South First Street home in February has been indicted by a Butler County grand jury.
Donald Wyatt, 41, was indicted Wednesday, April 14, on charges of murder and domestic violence. The grand jury declined to indict Wyatt for felonious assault, endangering children, obstructing official business, which were part of the original charges.
Wyatt told Trenton police he accidentally killed his wife, Rhonda, on Feb. 22 minutes after the shooting as police tried to get the gun away from the distraught husband.
When he asked to hug his dead spouse, police handcuffed Wyatt as he leaned over her body, according to police testimony March 5 in Middletown Municipal Court.
Trenton police Detective Jeremiah Morgan testified that Rhonda Wyatt’s daughter said Wyatt had asked her before the shooting if her mother was cheating on him. Her answer was no, Morgan said.
The girl, 15, had walked to a school to get her younger sibling when the shooting occurred, Morgan said, leaving the couple's 3-year-old son in the home with his parents.
Wyatt told police he and his wife were arguing and he pulled the gun from under the mattress and held it under his chin, Morgan testified. Wyatt said that when he reached to hug his wife, the gun went off.
Officer Bruce Agee told the court that when he arrived at the residence the day of the shooting, he said a girl told him her mother was hurt. He found Wyatt in the bedroom, kneeling at the head of his deceased wife.
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2168 or lpack@coxohio.com.
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