LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. — A man was indicted Wednesday after he allegedly shot his wife to death inside a vehicle in Indiana, while their two young children were also in the vehicle.
Mohammed Mondal, 45, was indicted on one count of murder, and two counts of neglect of a dependent, according to court documents.
According to court documents, Sgt. Kenneth McAllister with the Dearborn County Sheriff's Office advised police on Nov. 6 around 11:49 a.m. that a police escort was being used to get a woman shot to the hospital.
McAllister, who is also a neighbor of Mondal's, said he received a call from Mondal around 11:49 a.m. McAllister said Mondal told him he had accidentally shot his wife, 40-year-old Stacy Mondal, then claimed that he shot her in self-defense. Mondal then told McAllister he was near the Indiana and Ohio state line but was heading back toward Indiana on US-50 in a black SUV.
When Mondal arrived at St. Elizabeth Dearborn Hospital, Stacy was taken inside but hospital staff were unable to save her life and she was pronounced dead.
According to court documents, he fired a handgun seven times while his children, a boy born in August 2022 and an infant born in September 2023, were in the back seat of the vehicle. The gun was then found by Stacy Mondal's feet when they arrived at the hospital.
In an interview with deputies, Mondal said the family was heading to Ohio to take family photos and he and Stacy got into an argument in the car. According to court documents, Mondal said Stacy struck him with his cell phone, then dropped the phone and reached for the gun, which was sitting in the open center console of the car.
Mondal said he reached a gun before her and then shot his wife, according to court documents. At this time, Mondal was unaware that his wife was dead. Court documents allege that Mondal immediately called 911, hung up and then called McAllister.
According to court documents, deputies then told Mondal that his wife was dead, and he then proceeded to tell them that Stacy had pointed the gun at him before he shot her.
Mondal told deputies that he believed his wife was having affairs with men in their neighborhood. He also said he believed one of the men involved in an affair had been following him, and believed his father-in-law was following him on the day of the shooting.
Mondal told deputies he remembered he was looking at the road, but didn't remember if he was still firing the gun while driving because he "went blank." Mondal said he was "not the bad guy," according to court documents.
Mondal, who is currently being held at the Dearborn County Law Enforcement Center, is expected to be in court Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023.
Stacy's family released a statement Wednesday regarding her death.
"On November 6 we tragically lost our beloved Stacy," the family wrote. "Her life was dedicated to her five beautiful children. Our focus now and moving forward is to love and support those children. We are being comforted by family, friends and the outpouring compassion by our community. Stacy's spirit will continue to live on."
Her family also organized a GoFundMe to benefit the future needs her children. You can donate here.
"All five of these children in one day really, in a certain sense, lost both of their parents," said Father Jonathan Meyer, pastor of all four parishes in Dearborn County. "You don't really move on from that."
Meyer has gotten to know some of the family's kids. He said this community will wrap love around them.
"You have to accept the fact that this is now the new reality that I live in, but I don't live in this reality by myself," he said.
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