Boone County Sheriff’s investigators confirmed Monday that the gunshot deaths of an engaged couple in a Nickman Road duplex were a murder-suicide.

Ashland Police officers and Boone County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a shots-fired 911 call at 11:58 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 2 and found the bodies of Travis Parker, 42, and Jessica Beachy-Willits, 36.

The investigation determined that four shots were fired, with Parker shooting Willits before taking his own life. Parker’s body was found lying on top of the rifle used in the shooting.

Willits is the mother of a 10-year-old daughter who was not at the Nickman residence at the time of the shooting.

According to Ashland Police Chief Lyn Woolford on Friday morning, the public was in no danger at the time and investigators did not look for a suspect. “We did find a rifle at the scene with spent shells,” Woodford said.

~ Get the rest of the story in today’s Journal ~

BY BRUCE WALLACE