9 hours ago
After mother's alleged murder, Anderson woman starts non-profit to help train law enforcement
ANDERSON — For more than seven months, Megan Tomlinson worked to bring justice to her mother, who was reportedly murdered by her husband.
Leslie Hope Houston died on Oct. 17, 2024; her husband, John Daughtery, was charged with her murder on May 27.
Tomlinson spent time after her mother died reviewing medical records, autopsy results and police reports seeking answers.
'There was an ongoing investigation,' said Andrew Hanna, chief deputy in the Madison County Prosecutor's Office. 'During the course of the investigation in this case, Megan provided essential evidence in the form of documents, recordings, and other information that helped bring criminal charges. We will continue to work with Megan in the prosecution of this case to ensure justice is served.'
On what would have been her mother's 47th birthday, June 14, Tomlinson publicly launched a nonprofit called Silver Lining of Hope, Inc.
'Silver Lining of Hope was created in memory of my mom, Hope, a woman who loved deeply, survived so much, and was ultimately killed by the person who should've protected her the most,' Tomlinson said. 'I refuse to let her become just another domestic violence statistic.'
Hanna said he supports the creation of the not-for-profit organization.
'Megan is making the best of an incredibly difficult situation to both prevent these kinds of cases from happening in the first place and to help provide training and information law enforcement needs to solve these cases when they do occur,' Hanna said.
'Their work bridges the gap between policy and lived experience, between research and reform,' he added.
Tomlinson spent the months after the death of her mother trying to get law enforcement and prosecutors to file murder charges against Daugherty.
One goal of Silver Lining of Hope, Tomlinson said, is to build trauma-informed resources for families, provide forensic case reviews with the support of professional volunteers, and train law enforcement and medical professionals to recognize signs of abuse, with an emphasis on strangulation.
Tomlinson said the night before her mother died, she requested a welfare check. She didn't learn until two days later that her mother had been admitted to the hospital and was determined to be brain dead.
'I want ensure my mother is more than just a statistic,' she said. 'I want to prevent another person (from being) murdered by a loved one.'
Tomlinson said because the charges against Daughtery are still pending, there is a lot she can't discuss publicly.
'I wish there had been a way that she could have gotten some help,' she said. 'It's about seeing justice done.'
Tomlinson said Daughtery was a 'highly manipulative person, and extremely violent.'
According to a probable cause affidavit, Anderson police officers were dispatched for medical assistance on Oct. 11, 2024, at the residence and found Houston on the floor where paramedics were performing CPR.
The court document states Daughtery was at the residence and told police he returned home from work and Houston had fallen and fell asleep in the kitchen.
The court document states that a CT scan at St. Vincent Hospital located a massive intracranial injury. A neurosurgical team in Indianapolis determined Houston's injuries were not survivable. She died on Oct. 17, 2024.
Indianapolis doctors noted Houston had numerous bruises and other injuries in various stages of healing, including on her feet, arms, legs, neck and breast, according to the court document.
'The extent and nature of the findings were consistent with domestic abuse and possible strangulation,' according to the doctors.
An autopsy showed Houston had an elevated level of ethanol in her system and listed the cause of death as an intracranial hemorrhage.
Several family members told Anderson police that Daughtery had been physically abusive toward Houston and at times hit her head on the floor since 2019, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Daughtery denied any physical abuse between the couple during an interview with police.
His brother Lonnie Daughtery was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2012 in Kentucky for the murder of his wife and her cat at a hotel in Elizabethtown, according to an article in the local newspaper.
Daughtery, of Noblesville, pleaded guilty to charges of murder and second-degree animal cruelty. He told police he strangled his wife, Michele D. Daughtery, because she wanted to commit suicide but could not complete the act herself.
He claimed to have acted out of compassion and at the request of his wife, whom he believed was depressed as well as 'terminally ill and in pain.' The couple had been married for 10 years at the time of her death and were in Elizabethtown on vacation.
Hardin County Coroner Dr. Bill Lee said Michele Daughtery's autopsy showed no signs of a life-threatening condition.
Although there were some gall stones and a high level of drugs in her system, Lee said there was nothing that would require medical treatment.
