Johnson County prosecutors charged the suspect in last week’s shooting in Greenwood with murder and attempted murder.
Prosecutors said Randy Sutt, 43, of Greenwood, shot and killed his brother’s fiance, Cecilia Babcock, and shot at responding officers, according to charging documents filed Friday in Johnson Circuit Court.
Sutt told police he shot Babcock, whom he lived with, because he was "tired of her," according to court documents. Sutt told police he asked Babcock, whom he had known for about seven years, and his brother for a Klonopin, a Schedule IV controlled substance, but they told him no, made fun of him and called him an addict.
Sutt said the situation made him "very upset," according to court documents. Sutt text his brother that he was going to shoot Babcock, retrieved a handgun from a safe in his first-floor bedroom and shot Babcock in a second-floor bathroom, court documents said.
Sutt left the bathroom, went back downstairs and called 911. He told dispatchers he shot someone, according to court documents.
Police responded to a report of a person shot about 10:30 a.m. April 13 in the 400 block of Legacy Blvd., in the Homecoming at University Park neighborhood, according to the initial news release from the Greenwood Police Department.
When police arrived, Sutt came out of the house armed with the gun. An officer saw Sutt and told him to drop the gun. Sutt fired at the officer, but missed. The officer returned fire with his service rifle, also missing, according to court documents. While taking cover, the officer fell and was dragged to safety, court documents said.
Sutt went back inside.
Officers made their way around the house to where Sutt was standing when he fired at them. As they approached, an officer yelled "look out" to another officer with his back to a window. The officer turned, saw Sutt standing in the window with a gun and fired multiple rounds into the window, according to court documents. Police body camera footage confirms officers’ accounts of what happened, court documents said.
No one was injured in either shootout, Greenwood police said.
A negotiator with Greenwood police talked with Sutt on the phone and convinced him to disarm and surrender, police said.
Video of the arrest shows Sutt throw the gun out of the house, walk out, lay down in the front yard and put his hands over his head. Officers, one armed with a rifle, approached slowly and arrested Sutt.
Police then entered the house where they found Babcock upstairs with a gunshot wound to the head. She was transported to IU Health Methodist Hospital. She died at 5:37 p.m. at the hospital, according to court documents.
When police asked Sutt if he remembers where he shot Babcock, Sutt told them in or near her head. When police asked him why he shot her, Sutt said "to kill her," court documents said.
"Whenever officers are placed in a situation where they are forced to fire their service weapons, it can be an extremely dangerous situation. That danger is compounded when these situations occur in a residential neighborhood. This situation could have easily resulted in greater tragedy than it already did. It was only by the grace of God and skilled and measured acts of responding GPD officers that it did not," said Joe Villanueva, Johnson County prosecutor.
"What happened to Cecelia Babcock and (the officer) will not be tolerated in Johnson County. I look forward to presenting the evidence we have collected to hold Sutt fully accountable for his alleged acts."
Sutt has a criminal history, including a conviction for theft of a firearm and carrying a handgun without a license in Marion County, according to online court records.
