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The Madison County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the deaths of a Colbert couple that was described Monday as having the appearances of a murder/suicide case.
The couple was found dead Sunday in their home on Brittany Point, a subdivision located west of the city limits and just north of Georgia Highway 78.
The couple was identified as April Kelley, 45, and her husband, Ricky Kelley, 48, who is believed to have taken his wife’s life before turning the gun on himself, according to sheriff’s investigators.
Deputies were summoned to the house by family members early in the afternoon where they found two adults inside the home along with two bodies on the floor, according to sheriff’s report.
Autopsies were ordered and the crime scene is being process, but everything points to a murder/suicide, Sheriff’s Capt. Jimmy Patton said.
The couple had separated, but Patton said investigators are still working on when each arrived at the house “where something tragic happened.”
April Kelley was on the floor in the living room with a gunshot wound to her head, while Ricky Kelley was found nearby, also with a head wound, and with the gun, a Ruger P96, under his body, the report shows.
A deputy reported that two weeks earlier he had served a temporary protection order against Ricky Kelley that was taken out by his wife. April Kelley told the deputy at that time she was going to stay with her family.
The couple had a court hearing on their grievances set for Oct. 21, according to the report.
Family members went to the home after they found a Facebook video post by Ricky Kelley, which they found troublesome, according to the report.
The doors to the house were locked and family members forced a door open to gain entrance, according to the report.
That Facebook post was recorded by the sheriff’s office as part of the investigation.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation sent a forensics unit to the house to process the crime scene, Patton said.
Ms. Kelley was in her 17th year with the district and was a special education paraprofessional at Fowler Drive Elementary School while also serving as the school’s After-School Program coordinator.
She also previously worked at Barnett Shoals and Howard B. Stroud elementary schools.
