Stark County Sheriff: Wife shot dead, husband seriously injured in Plain Township home
PLAIN TWP. − Sheriff's deputies said they found a 61-year-old woman dead in her home and believe her husband shot her before shooting himself.
Christine Fite was pronounced dead at 5:57 p.m. Sunday at the couple's home on 31st Street NE, according to the Stark County Coroner's Office. Deputies discovered her lying on the upstairs bedroom floor, said Stark County Sheriff's Inspector William Jones.
Deputies said they found her husband, Byron Fite, 62, on the floor of the basement unconscious but alive. They said they found his gun nearby and believe he shot himself.
Plain Township paramedics transported him to Cleveland Clinic Mercy Medical Center where as of Monday he was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. according to the sheriff's office.
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The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's office was set to perform an autopsy of Christine Fite's body.
Jones said one of Christine Fite's relatives contacted the sheriff's office around 5:30 p.m. She said it was unusual for Christine not to contact her that Sunday and asked deputies to check on her welfare. The relative arranged for a family friend to bring a key to the house.
The deputies entered the home and found both Fites inside.
Jones said deputies haven't yet established the motive behind the shootings.
"We don’t have any indication why this happened or what happened. And we’ve interviewed several family members from both sides and we don't have anything at this point," Jones said.
He said deputies had no indications anyone else was involved or anyone else was in any danger. No one else lived in the home. Christine Fite has two adult daughters and a son from a prior marriage.
The coroner's office said it believes she was killed sometime during the morning.
Jones said that the address did not have a history of domestic violence complaints and the neighbors whom deputies interviewed reported hearing of any conflict between the two. Jones said the neighbors were shocked to hear the circumstances.
Jones said, “We have a lot of evidence we have to comb through that will take some time."
According to Stark County Probate Court records, Byron Fite, listed then as living in the 31st Street NE home, married Christine A. West, then of Ninth Street NE, in 2019.
Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. On X, formerly Twitter: @rwangREP.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Sheriff's deputies investigating apparent murder-suicide in Plain Twp
