Woman’s death ruled homicide; died of single gunshot
TRENTON — Police filed murder charges and issued a warrant for the arrest of a Trenton man accused of fatally shooting his wife at their home Monday, Feb. 22, according to court records.
Donald Wyatt, 41, remained hospitalized under guard Tuesday, police said, after he was transported Monday night to Atrium Medical Center in Middletown. He is charged with murder, felonious assault, endangering children and obstruction of official business, according to Middletown Municipal Court records.
The death of his wife, Rhonda Wyatt, was ruled a homicide Tuesday morning by the Butler County Coroner’s Office. The 32-year-old mother of three children ages 15, 9 and 3, died of a fractured skull from a single gunshot to the head from a .357 Magnum handgun, said Debbie Lacey, coroner’s investigator.
Police responded to the couple’s home Monday afternoon after a child called 911 and said, “Please come. 813 S. First St., right away,” according to a tape released Tuesday by county sheriff’s dispatchers. In the background of the call made at 3:15 p.m. Monday, a man is shrieking. The call lasted just a few seconds; the child, believed to be a girl, hung up after the plea for help.
When police first responded to the home, they found Rhonda Wyatt on her bedroom floor with a gunshot wound to the head, a gun under the bed and her husband on the floor over his wife’s body, said Trenton police Chief Tim Traud.
“At first they thought they might have a suicide,” Traud said. But that notion changed after Traud said Donald Wyatt exhibited strange behavior and allegedly grabbed for the gun under the bed when police tried to take him into custody. Officers tried to subdue Wyatt with a Taser, but he continued to threaten with a weapon, he said. The officers backed out and talked Wyatt into giving himself up after a 45-minute standoff.
Wyatt, with blood on his arms, hands and head, was led out of the residence at 4:17 p.m. He was taken to the Trenton Division of Police when he became ill, according to Traud. The chief would not provide specifics on Wyatt's medical condition, but said he was not injured while being taken into custody.
Court records show accused killer had violent past spanning nearly 20 years
Police and court records show Donald Wyatt, charged in the fatal shooting of his wife, has an extensive record of domestic violence in area communities.
Trenton police Chief Tim Traud said his department had responded to the residence for six domestic violence calls since 2006, most recently in June 2009.
Wyatt, who has an extensive criminal record in Hamilton and has had protection orders issued against him, was charged in 2006 with felony domestic violence. A Butler County grand jury sent the case back to Middletown Municipal Court, where it was dismissed.
Hamilton police reports reveal domestic abuse cases involving a least two women other than Rhonda Wyatt dating back almost 20 years. Reports give residences between 1991 to 2001 for Wyatt on South B Street, N.W. Washington Boulevard, Pleasant Avenue and Shuler Avenue. His occupation was listed as construction.
Wyatt was charged seven times with domestic violence as well as disorderly conduct, assault, and menacing , according to Hamilton Municipal Court records.
In a 2000 report, a girlfriend said Wyatt grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the ground. In other reports, he reported being hit by a woman but when officers talked with her, she said Wyatt had been cursing at her, then shoved her and grabbed her throat.
“Basically, there was a history of domestic (violence) there,” Traud said of the Wyatt home in Trenton, where he had lived for about five years. “He was the complainant on several of them. ”
Three children, including one who police said witnessed the shooting of their mother, were inside the home at the time of the incident but Traud said they were taken out of the house as soon as officers arrived.
A district crisis team went into action Tuesday morning at Edgewood City Schools to help students who may need counseling or have questions about Monday’s shooting, said district spokesman John Thomas. A letter sent home Tuesday indicates at least one of the children is an Edgewood student.
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