Amanda Blackburn, the wife of an Indianapolis pastor, was shot and killed in her home during what police believe may have been an invasion last week, and now they believe they may have found the weapon that killed her.
According to Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Lt. Richard Riddle, a resident in a nearby neighborhood found a handgun in their front yard and turned it over to authorities. The weapon is reportedly in good condition and is being investigated as part of the crime, Riddle says.
“It certainly is of interest to our detectives to see if that weapon has any connection to any crime in that area. But most importantly the Amanda Blackburn case at this point.”
Amanda Blackburn reportedly had no enemies and was pregnant at the time of the shooting; both she and the baby perished. Her 15-month old son was asleep upstairs when it happened, while husband Davey was at the gym. Authorities reportedly cleared him as a suspect after reviewing surveillance footage at the establishment.
Davey Blackburn says his wife was loved by everyone she knew, and while police haven’t said whether they believe the shooting was definitely part of a break-in, they did release grainy surveillance footage from a nearby home that was burglarized recently.
“It was such an obscure photo. It’s extremely difficult to say that anybody recognized it. Our neighborhood was so close and it was such a seemingly safe neighborhood. And so this has devastated all the neighbors,” Blackburn said.
Amanda Blackburn’s best friend of over two decades, Elizabeth Enfield Henderson, said that Amanda was an inspiration to her.
“Amanda inspired me in so many ways to not only love God, but to live a life with purpose and that’s really hard to think about without her,” Enfield said.