A Hillsboro-area woman who was facing first-degree murder and armed criminal action charges in the shooting death of her boyfriend, was found dead in her cell early Sunday (Oct. 8) at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro.
Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said in a press release that the death is being treated as a suicide.
Laurel Leah Leeker, 48, was found by corrections officers unresponsive shortly after 5 a.m. in a single cell, the release said. An internal investigation revealed no signs of foul play, according to the release.
Leeker had exercised and showered shortly before she went to bed at 12:15 a.m., the release said.
In the release, Marshak said the investigation is ongoing, and the cause of death will be determined by the St. Louis County Medical Examiner’s Office.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the many family and friends impacted by the death of Leeker and the victim (Stephen Pettit),” Marshak said in the release.
Leeker was charged Aug. 22 by the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in the Aug. 17 shooting death of Pettit, who owned the Blackwood Firearms gun shop in the Festus area.
If convicted, Leeker would have faced a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
Pettit, 49, was pronounced dead at the scene at a house he was renting in the 10000 block of Vail Drive in rural Hillsboro that he shared with Leeker, Marshak said on Aug. 18.
The original call, he said, came as a burglary in progress, but deputies dispatched to the scene were told that shots had been fired and a person was bleeding.
According to the probable-cause statement in the case, deputies found Pettit in his bedroom “nude, unarmed and lying in a manner to suggest he was asleep at the time of the incident.”
The investigation revealed the victim was shot numerous times from behind in the head and upper body, the report said.
Leeker told investigators someone secretly entered the house and shot the victim while she was in the bathroom.
“However, the investigation yielded no evidence consistent with the statement,” according to the report.
The statement says two juveniles in the home said they did not see anyone other than Leeker leave the bedroom where the murder occurred.
“According to victim statements and based on available technological resources, it is determined Leeker remained in the master bedroom for approximately (five to seven minutes) before emerging, calling for the other residents and requesting they call 911 for assistance,” the report said.
Leeker was being held at the Jefferson County Jail on a $150,000 cash-only bond.