Stedman Coulter Baird was 27 when he was killed in his Evansville, Indiana, apartment on the night of October 18, 2016. According to court records, a night of arguments and methamphetamine and cocaine use ended with Baird sustaining a single gunshot wound to the back of his head. He was found dead in the residence he shared with his girlfriend, Chauna Reed.

Officers at the scene recovered two handguns, 24 grams of suspected methamphetamine, and a small amount of suspected heroin. Reed told investigators she had slept with a .40 caliber pistol under her pillow, said her memory of the shooting was a flash and a gunshot, and admitted to throwing the handgun she used over a nearby privacy fence; the weapon was later recovered. Reed initially made incriminating statements during questioning and was arrested on a murder charge with preliminary counts of dealing in methamphetamine.

On September 12, 2017, Reed pleaded guilty to murder and, under a plea agreement that dismissed the drug and firearm enhancement charges, received a 45-year prison sentence. She expressed remorse at sentencing, saying she loved Baird and did not know what had happened that night.