Ohio Woman Admits To Murdering Ex-Husband In 911 Call


A 46-year-old woman, Dawn Shearer, in Middleton, Ohio is behind bars after allegedly shooting her ex-husband, Anthony Shearer, dead during an argument Monday night.

WLWT reports that Dawn called 911, claiming that she thinks she shot her ex-husband in their home on 3600 block of Ellis Way around 8:30 p.m. during an argument.

In a 911 call, Dawn said: “We were married 20-something years. I moved back in to work things out. I think I shot him in the head.”

When the dispatcher asked Dawn why she shot her ex-husband, she said: “Because we were arguing.”

However, relatives say the former couple wasn’t working things out when Anthony was shot. The victim’s mother Linda Miller said: “We don’t know what happened. We may never find out.”

When Middleton police officials arrived at Dawn’s residence, Officer Christine Sorrell stated that Dawn was still on the phone with dispatch; therefore, she asked the operator to tell the suspect to walk out of the residence with her hands visible.

“As I was pulling up to the residence, I saw a female walking out with what appeared to be a phone in her hand up to her ear. I advised her multiple times to put the phone down and walk backward towards me.”

“She appeared to be in shock,” Sorrell wrote in a statement.

According to a report, Dawn reiterated multiple times that she wanted to go back inside of her home because “she didn’t know what happened to her ex-husband and that she didn’t know what she did.”

Once officers detained Dawn, they went inside the residence and found Anthony on the living room floor with a gunshot wound to the head.

A handgun, as well as other evidence, was located inside the home.

Emergency medical services transported Anthony to the Atrium Medical Center, then he was flown to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton where he was pronounced dead.

The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office is performing an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Dawn was arrested and charged with murder.

A next door neighbor, Chaz Frazier, says he was stunned when he heard Anthony died in a shooting and the suspect was his ex-wife.

“At first we thought he shot her,” said Frazier. “When we found out she shot him, we thought she’s so quiet. She wasn’t the rowdy type. I didn’t think that would happen in this type of neighborhood. It’s quiet over here.”

She made her first court appearance on Wednesday and pled not guilty with plans to argue that the fatal shooting was in self-defense.

Defense attorney Jason Phillabaum is representing Dawn and stated that “she was in fear for her life when she fired.”

“I think there were some witnesses that came forward that said she was trying to escape, and her car was blocked, and that the victim was allegedly chasing her around the car.”

It was alleged that Anthony chased his ex-wife out of the house after an argument and she was unable to “escape” because his van was blocking her Nissan Altima.

Dawn, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, reportedly fired three shots – one of which struck her ex-husband in the head – to pacify the “threat posed by her ex-husband.”

Phillabaum stated that her decision to call 911 after shooting her ex-husband was a “good indicator” as it proves that “she wasn’t trying to hide guilt.”

Tuesday morning, family and friends gathered at the victim’s home who they described as “awesome” and “outstanding.”

“He was a good guy. He loved kids. I mean, he was just an awesome person in general,” said his sister-in-law Krystal Shearer.

Dawn is being held at the Middletown City Jail on a $250,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for February 15.

If Dawn is found guilty of the crime, she could face “15 years to life in prison and a $15,000 fine for the murder charge.”

[Featured Image By Middletown Police Department]

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