Wayne City, IL: Suspect found dead

Wife of only a week in critical condition



Wayne City —
Married for less than a week, a Wayne City man accused of beating and choking his wife Wednesday morning has apparently taken his own life.

As reported in Wednesday's Times, police around the area were searching for Rodney W. Baker, 41, after the beating of his wife was reported early that morning.

Baker's body was found hanging from the steps of a grain bin near Wayne City around 8:45 Wednesday morning.

Wayne County Coroner Jimmy Taylor says Baker died of an apparent suicide. An autopsy has been scheduled to confirm the cause of death. Local farm hands found the body and called 911.

Wayne County Sheriff's Police were called to Baker's home in the 800 block of Paradise Street in Wayne City around 4:20 Wednesday morning on a report of a domestic disturbance. When they arrived, they found Baker's wife, Charla, 35 in a pool of blood on the floor. She was unresponsive and bleeding from the mouth and nose, police said. The couple had been married for less than a week.

Police said children in the home were awakened by the sound of their mother's screams for help, got up and witnessed Baker running out the front door.

Charla Baker was taken by ambulance to Fairfield Memorial Hospital and later transferred to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Ind., for treatment of a serious head injury. Relatives said doctors placed her in a drug-induced coma because of the severity of her head injuries.

Children in the home told police that Baker had fled in a black 1996 GMC pickup. After searching the area for several hours, the unoccupied truck was located on Gunpowder Road south of Wayne City. Baker's body was found nearby hanging from the steps of a grain bin.

Baker had been released from prison in January of this year after serving less than half of a 20-year sentence for a 2001 residential burglary. In the 2001 case, Baker was convicted of breaking into a relative's home and stealing a gun.

Armed with the gun, Baker barricaded himself in a house on N.W. Seventh St. in Fairfield for several hours before surrendering to an Illinois State Police tactical response team. He drew a 20-year sentence in 2002 and was released on parole Jan. 11 this year.

His wife, Charla remains in critical condition at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville.

"Charla's mother told me that she's not out of the woods yet," said Wayne County Sheriff Mike Everett, who traveled to Evansville Wednesday afternoon to notify family members of Baker's death. "She is still in a coma."