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Davey Blackburn says he's engaged to be married, 2 years after his wife's murder

Amanda Blackburn was killed in November 2015
Posted at 2:09 PM, Nov 14, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-15 08:13:23-05

INDIANAPOLIS -- Nearly two years after his pregnant wife was murdered, Davey Blackburn has announced he's going to get married again. 

On the morning of November 10, 2015, Blackburn left to go work. His wife, Amanda, was home when three men entered through unlocked front door of their home on Indianapolis' northwest side. 

Two of the men left to try and get money out of Amanda's bank account with her debit cards.  One stayed behind and allegedly shot the pregnant mother three times, including once in the back of the head. She was declared dead the next day. Amanda left behind a 1-year-old son, Weston.

In a blog post published on Tuesday, Blackburn, a pastor at Resonate Church, said he had decided he wouldn't pursue anyone until after the one year anniversary of Amanda's death. But he had seen a woman at the gym where he works out.

"So from September until the beginning of November, I just observed this girl. We said maybe a dozen words to each other, mostly cordial hello's, but things got interesting when she showed up to my church one Sunday in October. You see prior to coming to church, I only suspected she loved Jesus. "

Blackburn said he tried to arrange some chance encounters with the woman at church, but nothing worked.

In January, he ran into her again at the gym. She told him about her life and her family. The woman told Blackburn she had been following his story because Davey and Amanda were friends with her old pastors. He said this meeting piqued his interest even more.

"You see, several months after Amanda passed I wrote something in my prayer journal: Lord, if you ever bring me another wife here's what I ask for, that she loves you more than she loves me, that she loves me, that she loves Weston, and that she loves Amanda."

Blackburn said that would be critical as he would be sharing Amanda's story going forward, and any woman in his life would have to be secure enough to be okay with that.

The woman then told him about a coincidence that made her a little uncomfortable. She said her stepdad is one of the chaplains for the Marion County Prison System and she said he has regular conversations with the men that killed Amanda.

"What?!" I was dumbfounded. What are you doing, God? This girl that I've been interested in for a couple of months has this close of connection with my story? I couldn't help what came out of my mouth next. 'You want to go grab some dinner with me?'"

In the end, they decided dinner would not be a good idea so they talked some more and went their separate ways.

He would ask her to the ballet, but they decided not to do that either because Amanda's trial was coming up and they received "some wise counsel" that they should keep their relationship private until after the trial was over.

Blackburn approached the prosecutor when the trial was delayed to see if a change in his relationship status would affect the proceedings. The prosecutor said "not at all."

So Blackburn and the woman continued dating. They'd spent time with her family because they live in Indy. In August, they spent a week with his family and a week with Amanda's family.  

Blackburn said the next few months were filled with marriage conversations.

He proposed to Kristi Monroy on November 8, and she said yes. She has a daughter, Natalia.

"Kristi has quickly became like a mother to Weston and Natalia, an older sister. And I have quickly fallen in love with both of them," wrote Blackburn. 

He wrapped up the blog post with some advice Amanda's dad gave him about Kristi:

"Davey, take it slow until you know she's the right one. Once you know, go fast, and we'll be right there with you."

As for the murder trial, Jalen Watson agreed in October to cooperate with the prosecution as a part of a plea agreement.

In exchange for the dismissal of the most grievous charges against him, Watson has agreed to cooperate in the prosecution of his co-defendants, Larry Jo Taylor and Diano Gordon. They are charged with murder, burglary, robbery and auto theft in connection with Amanda Blackburn's death. Both are scheduled to go to trial next April.

PREVIOUSAmanda Blackburn murder: Davey Blackburn releases statement following arrest of suspect | Timeline: The murder of Amanda Blackburn | Pastor's wife killed in home break-in on northwest side | Amanda Blackburn murder: Prosecutor files for sentence enhancement | Amanda Blackburn murder: Husband shares her last journal entry