Autopsy: Expectant Ohio mom died of shot to chest

10/30/2013

GEORGETOWN, Ohio  — A pregnant woman found in her vehicle off a rural southern Ohio highway died of a gunshot wound to the chest and had $125 in cash on her, an autopsy report concluded.

Investigators have made no arrests and said little about possible motives or suspects in their probe of Britanny Stykes’ Aug. 28 death. Her toddler daughter, Aubree, was shot in the head and found still strapped into her car seat. She has undergone four surgeries.

The 22-year-old Stykes was 17 months pregnant, and her fetus didn’t survive. The pair was buried together. The autopsy found that the fetus wasn’t wounded.

WLWT-TV of Cincinnati reported that the autopsy released Tuesday says Stykes was wounded in the chest, neck and right arm. The Montgomery County coroner’s report states there were no signs of gunpowder or other residue. The report says that finding indicates she was shot from an “indeterminate or distant range of fire.”

It also notes that the cash was left with her, and toxicology reports found no signs of drug or alcohol in her system.

Police had thought they were responding to a car crash after someone reported seeing Stykes’ yellow Jeep Wrangler off the road in a wooded area in Ripley, some 45 miles southeast of Cincinnati.

Family members have said they have no idea why someone would kill her.

A $10,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in the slaying.

“We are determined to get to the bottom of this. We’re going to continue to work this case as long as leads come in,” Chief Deputy John Schadle said. “We keep getting tips and things of that nature, and we’re going to follow those up.”