A Griffith man was charged Friday with attempted murder after shooting a woman’s new boyfriend.
Aaron Belcher, 35, is also charged with aggravated battery and battery by means of a deadly weapon.
He made a court appearance Monday where he said he’d hire his own attorney. Magistrate Mark Watson reset his bail to $10,000 cash surety.
Multiple police agencies responded just before 2 p.m. Aug. 2 to the 1100 block of E. Highway 330 in unincorporated Griffith for a reported assault with a firearm.
They saw a woman screaming for help from a window. She said her ex-boyfriend, Belcher, took off in a red truck.
Officers found another man shot lying in front of a back housing unit, charges state. He was bleeding heavily, shot in the head and arm. He had a “bandage” wrapped around his head.
The man was taken to the hospital.
The woman told police Belcher lived with her and was angry after they broke up two weeks earlier. That day, he reportedly argued with the new boyfriend in the kitchen before the shooting.
“You’re not going to break up my family,” Belcher reportedly told the man.
“You can’t call 911, I’m not going back to prison,” he told the woman after the incident.
Two days before the shooting, Belcher confronted the woman. She told them the relationship was over and he needed to move on. He beat her up and left, according to charges.
The next night, the woman and victim went to a hotel to avoid another confrontation.
The next day, they stopped by the home to get some stuff. The woman was getting out of the shower to get her child ready to leave, when she heard a “commotion” and then gunshots.
Belcher forced her into a back bedroom, then got her phone to prevent her from calling 911. She opened a window and started waving her arms for help. She was unsure if anyone was with Belcher, since his truck windows were tinted.
The victim said Belcher maced him before opening fire. Police learned Belcher had been in a relationship with another woman for a few months.
