Man charged years after girlfriend's death investigation went cold, IN cops say
Brittney Boman died months after she was shot in 2022 in the woods, but she told police she didn't see who fired the gun, Indiana officials and media outlets said.
The 29-year-old woman's case went cold after her death on Dec. 30, 2022, nearly three months after the Oct. 2 shooting in Henryville, Indiana State Police said in a May 13 news release.
Boman was hiding in the woods from her boyfriend when she was shot, WLKY reported.
'Brittney loved her family and siblings fiercely, and was always very loyal. She was every dog's friend,,' her obituary read.
The investigation reopened in December 2024 when it was transferred to state police. After 'numerous' interviews, a suspect was identified.
Derek Pixley, 33, was arrested on May 12 and charged with murder in connection with the shooting, Indiana State Police said.
'It was Derek. … A battle has been won, but not the war,' her mother, Shawnee Edmiston Goodman, said in a May 13 Facebook post.
Almost one year prior to her death, Boman gave birth to her son Camden, a stillborn baby boy, her mother said.
Camden's obituary identified Pixley, the suspect, as the father.
'After the baby, I brought her home, she was here a day and then he showed up and they left,' Edmiston told WHAS. 'I don't even think she followed up with the doctors afterwards. I think maybe over the last year I saw her a handful of times.'
Boman had taken out an emergency protective order against her boyfriend, media outlets reported, but she still lived with him.
The day before Pixley's arrest, the mother mourned the loss of her daughter on Mother's Day.
'I have been waiting for a phone call that will never come at midnight again,' Edmiston Goodman wrote in a May 11 post. 'Brittney always wanted to be the 1st kid to wish me Happy Mother's Day. Actually, she wanted to be the first to wish Happy Anything. You were never an afterthought if she loved you.'
Pixley is being held in Clark County Jail, state police said. The investigation is ongoing.
Henryville is about a 95-mile drive southeast from Indianapolis.
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