Shooting ends in suicide (12/20/03)

A former Jay County resident died Thursday from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, hours after police said he broke into his estranged wife’s home and shot his wife’s girlfriend.

James Dean Enyart, 34, a Shelbyville resident and a 1987 graduate of Jay County High School, was pronounced dead Thursday morning at Major Hospital in Shelbyville after police forced their way into his home.

Arnita Petre, 44, who lived with Enyart’s estranged wife Allison in a Franklin subdivision, was in critical condition Friday at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, The Associated Press reported. Petre sustained a single gunshot wound to the head.

Funeral arrangements for James Enyart will be held Tuesday at 11 a.m. at W.H. Dick & Sons Funeral Home, Mendon, Ohio.

According to reports by The Daily Journal (Franklin) and The Indianapolis Star, the shooting of Petre happened just after 2 a.m. Thursday in the Knollwood Farms subdivision of Franklin, which is located about 20 miles south of downtown Indianapolis.

Handwritten notes found at James Enyart’s Shelbyville home written by Enyart implicated him in the shooting of Petre. The Daily Journal reported that the notes said that his wife had left him for Petre.

Allison Enyart, 27, called Johnson County 911 at 2:08 a.m. Thursday, telling a dispatcher that Petre had been shot and that she was lying on the bedroom floor. “I don’t want her to die,” The Daily Journal reported Enyart as saying.

Allison Enyart told Franklin police that she and Petre had been awakened by a loud crashing noise and that Petre had confronted an intruder.

Allison Enyart, who remained in bed prior to the shooting, described Petre as asking the intruder, “Who the hell are you?” Enyart told police she then heard a single gunshot and heard the unknown intruder moving through the house before leaving.

Police from Franklin went to James Enyart’s home in Shelbyville Thursday morning to question Enyart, but received no response when they knocked on the door. The tactical response team of Shelbyville police was called, and the house was stormed at 9:20 a.m.

Police discovered Enyart in critical condition from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Shell casings from the 9 mm pistol used by James Enyart appeared to match those found at the scene of the Franklin shooting, police said.

Medics attempted to revive James Enyart, who was pronounced dead at Major Hospital sometime after he arrived by ambulance at 10:12 a.m.

The Daily Journal reported the Enyarts were married in September of 1999. The couple had no children.

Born June 22, 1969 in Portland, Enyart was the son of Donald C. and Eva L. (Martin) Enyart.

A graduate of Ball State University, he had been a publications editor at WFYI television in Indianapolis for the past five years.

Survivors include his mother and stepfather, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry J. Dreiling, Mendon; four brothers, Don R., Ed W., Gary and Robert Enyart, all of Portland; two sisters, Teresa L. Enyart, Delphos, Ohio, and Amy L. Bash, Celina, Ohio; and several nieces and nephews.

Calling will be held Monday from 4 to 8 p.m. at W.H. Dick & Sons Funeral Home, 218 W. Market St., Mendon.

Services are Tuesday at 11 a.m. at the funeral home, with Pastor Hugh Kelly of Fellowship Baptist Church, Portland, officiating.

Burial will follow services at Mendon Cemetery.[[In-content Ad]]