Inset: Bryce M. Leighton (Monroe County Jail). Background: The home in Indiana where Leighton killed his longtime girlfriend in November 2023 (Google Maps).
A 37-year-old man in Indiana faces decades in prison after a jury convicted him of killing his girlfriend with a single gunshot to the head inside the victim's home three years ago.
A jury in Monroe County found Bryce Michael Leighton guilty of one count of murder in the slaying of 48-year-old Tara Langley, prosecutors confirmed to Law&Crime. Circuit Judge Mary Ellen Diekhoff presided over Leighton's trial.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the investigation began when deputies with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and emergency medical personnel responded at 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 4, 2023, to Langley's home in the 5900 block of E. State Road 45 for an unknown disturbance.
Upon arriving, first responders encountered Leighton outside the home with blood on his clothes and hands while yelling incomprehensibly about his "baby," Indianapolis-based Fox affiliate WXIN reported, citing a probable cause affidavit.
Deputies soon found Langley's body inside the home's attached garage with blood pooling around her head. Near her body, deputies found an "AR-15-style rifle" and a "civilian-style stun gun/Taser."
A neighbor confirmed to investigators that the neighbor had called 911 to report a suspicious person after hearing a man outside yelling well after midnight.
Investigators described the home as being in a "general state of disarray, with broken furniture, appliances and glass throughout."
When taken in for questioning, Leighton reportedly was "hysterical and hard to understand," deputies wrote. Asked about what happened, he responded that he was "having flashbacks," began crying and said: "My baby, oh God."
He later claimed he shot Langley in self-defense, saying he had been trying to leave the home when "she came at me," referring to Langley.
Leighton reportedly described Langley, his girlfriend of seven years, as drunk and mean, according to the affidavit, adding that she was often cruel when she drank. He also claimed her drinking and bad behavior had worsened over the past few months.
Leighton said he and Langley were arguing and he was packing his things to get away from her aggressive behavior when she used a Taser on him, according to WXIN. He said he had warned her before not to use the Taser on him.
"Leighton said she [Langley] turned the stun gun device and when it first popped, 'everything went into a blur,'" police wrote in the affidavit, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. "I asked him if the gun was in his hands at that time and he said yes," the affidavit continued.
According to the Herald-Times, Leighton spent several years behind bars for a 2010 incident in which he was intoxicated and driving a stolen car when he caused a head-on collision with cabdriver Gwendolynn Sanders, 31, who died at the scene.
The Monroe County Prosecutor's Office said Leighton will be sentenced in December.
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