INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis woman is behind bars after police say she intentionally drove over a man and killed him in the parking lot of a north side pub.
Detectives with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department have confirmed the death was domestic-related and domestic violence awareness advocates said they hope the case sends a simple message to anyone involved in an unhealthy relationship.
IMPD was called just after midnight Friday to the parking lot outside Tilly’s Pub on 82nd Street, where emergency crews found a 26-year-old man dead underneath a car.
The man, later identified as Andre Smith, leaves behind a young child and a grieving family.
Court records show that the suspect, 26-year-old Gaylyn Morris, told witnesses she believed Smith was cheating on her with another woman and tracked him to the pub using GPS. Once there, she ran over him three times in the parking lot before being arrested for murder.
“We don’t want to continue to be on the news talking about death when it could have been prevented,” said Indy Champions director Danyette Smith.
Smith, the director of Indy’s domestic violence prevention program, said while domestic violence calls to IMPD over the first few months of 2022 have gone down compared to the end of 2021, there has been one noticeable increase.
“I am noticing there are more calls coming to IMPD from males in reference to females being the suspects,” Smith said. “We want people to know that domestic violence doesn’t discriminate.”
IMPD said there were several witnesses to the disturbance overnight, and while Andre Smith’s family was too emotional to talk about the death on camera, Smith said she wants to remind everyone that resources and advocates are available to help prevent domestic violence before it turns deadly.
“When we see cases like this case, we hope to spread the message of getting resources and when there is domestic violence in a relationship to reach out for help,” said Smith.
It will ultimately be up to the prosecutor’s office to file formal charges against Morris. In the meantime, she is being held at the Marion County jail without bond.
