Man Reports Shooting; Ex-Wife Found Dead

ANDERSON, Ind. -- A woman was found dead inside a home Wednesday afternoon after a man called 911 and told a dispatcher that he had shot his ex-wife, police said.

When officers arrived at the home in the 800 block of Nichol Avenue at about 2:30 p.m., they found the victim, Fredricka Smith, 77, dead and her ex-husband, Donald Johnson, 76, outside the home.

Smith and Johnson had been divorced for 30 years, police said, but the man lives in the home.

"They brought her out on the stretcher. They were pumping on her chest, trying to get her to breathe," said neighbor Jennifer Lincoln.

Police said Smith had been shot in the chest and that her three grandchildren were inside the house when the shooting happened.

"What exactly caused him to get a gun and kill his ex-wife is still under investigation," said Anderson police Detective Joel Sandefur.

Neighbors told 6News' Cheryl Jackson that Smith frequently helped them out with baby-sitting.

"She'd take the little one with her and then she'd be gone all day until it was time for the others to come back and then she'd bring the little one back home," said neighbor Cindy Buster.

Police said Smith owned the house where the shooting happened. Her son, daughter-in-law, grandchildren and ex-husband all lived there.

"We'd seen that old man walking around here and he would stop and talk to you," Lincoln said. "I never thought he'd do anything like that."

Johnson was held in the Madison County Jail Wednesday night on a murder charge.