An Ohio physician who once authored a study about “the violent and homicidal adolescent” was fatally shot in what authorities allege was a planned attack involving her teenage daughter’s boyfriend and his roommate.
Tamela Dutcher was allegedly shot in the face by Christian Evans and Dajameous Payne during a home invasion at her Delaware County, Ohio, residence on Aug. 14, according to court records reviewed by The Post.
Dutcher, 55, was seated on a couch shortly after midnight when Evans, 20, and Payne, 21, entered the home and one shot was fired, WBNS reported.
The gunfire alerted Dutcher’s husband, who rushed to help his wife.
Authorities said Evans and Payne then fired at the unarmed husband but missed before running from the home.
Emergency crews responded to the scene and transported Dutcher to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
Investigators allege Dutcher’s 18-year-old daughter, Bryanna Dutcher, arranged the attack on her parents after clashing with her mother earlier that day over chores she had been told to complete.
According to a police affidavit obtained by Oxygen, Bryanna Dutcher had been secretly dating Evans because she feared her allegedly “very racist” parents would kick her out if they learned she was seeing a Black man.
The night of the fatal shooting, Bryanna Dutcher texted Evans about the argument in which the suspected gunman suggested murder.
“If I were you, I would have killed her,” Evans said, according to the outlet.
Evans appeared at the home with Payne and waited outside for 15 minutes before his girlfriend confirmed the Dutchers’ locations.
“Alr shes living room he’s basement where you’re here Imk,” the younger Dutcher allegedly texted.
Evans responded, saying they were preparing by putting on gloves and would “take them both out at the same time.”
After the shooting, Bryanna Dutcher allegedly attempted to hide the identity of the suspects, claiming she didn’t see anyone before accusing her mother’s friend who owed her money.
“It is believed that Bryanna repeatedly lied to law enforcement about her knowledge of the circumstances involving this incident, which delayed identifying leads and suspects,” police wrote in the affidavit.
Evans and Payne were later identified as the suspects and police spotted the secret boyfriend dumping a bag of trash into a dumpster outside his apartment that contained a gun holster and pants.
Evans’ father told police he got a text from his son saying “had f–ked up” with his GPS location pinging near the Dutchers’ home at the time of the shooting, Oxygen reported.
Police also obtained phone records from Bryanna Dutcher’s phone that contained texts from Evans that read “once they both pass away” and “also I believe you should also get a gun.”
Tamela Dutcher co-authored an article titled “The violent and homicidal adolescent. Hearts darkened before time” where she hauntingly discovered that most young female killers target their relatives.
“The vast majority of youth arrested for homicide are males. Those few girls who kill tend to kill family members,” Dutcher wrote alongside co-author Daniel Davis in the January 2002 article published by the International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health.
The report also focused on the race of the killers compared to the socioeconomic status of the suspects.
“Roughly one sixth of all Americans under the age of 18 years are African American; in recent years, approximately one half of the youth arrested for homicide are African American,” the article said.
Bryanna Dutcher, Evans and Payne have all been charged with Aggravated Murder. Dutcher was also hit with an obstruction of justice charge.
Prosecutors accused the trio of “purposely, and with prior calculation and design, causing the death of Dutcher, according to an indictment.
They are being held in the Delaware County Jail.
On Friday, Evans’ attorney filed a “suggestion of incompetency,” claiming the suspected murderer is not fit to stand trial and should be evaluated by a physician while behind bars.
