She told police her boyfriend would kill her; he’s now charged with her murder

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A year and a half ago, Krystal Walton called police.

Walton, four months’ pregnant, said her boyfriend had choked her, threatened her life and told her she needed abort her child.

“Ms. Walton does believe he will try to kill her and is concerned he will come to her temporary location,” reads a probable cause affidavit filed in March 2021.

Her boyfriend, Orlando Mitchell, received a plea deal in the case. Felony charges of strangulation with a pregnant victim, confinement and intimidation were thrown out. Mitchell agreed to plead guilty to domestic battery in the presence of a child under 16 and received probation in the case.

Mitchell was charged again on Sept. 15 for residential entry, invasion of privacy and intimidation.

A day later, Walton was killed as she walked out of a day care. Police identified Mitchell as her killer.

‘This is a heavy impact’

Walton was dropping off her kids at Charity Church & Child Care center at the corner of Holmes Avenue and 10th Street on Friday morning when gunshots rang out. Officers were called just before 7:30 a.m. According to a police report, more than 40 officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department responded to the scene.

Walton, 32, was shot and was pronounced dead on the scene. Police described the shooting as targeted and she had just walked out the front door of the day care.

Parents and children just starting their day witnessed the shooting. By noon, all of the children at the day care had been picked up and taken elsewhere.

“It is hard to express when something this close is at our front door and happens in our community with our people,” Jeffrey Thomas, a pastor at Charity Church Ministries, said. “I just feel really saddened because of the effect it has on so many people. Our staff, our children, our families, the initial family. This is a heavy impact. Children have been affected by the wrecking of this particular family. It is really hard, it’s really hard.”

A little under three hours later, someone at a bus stop at 10th and Delaware streets called 911 to report a possible suspect in the day care shooting. A bit over three miles east of Walton’s shooting, officers arrived to find Mitchell and a vehicle description given following the day care shooting. Police said Mitchell was holding a rifle and ignored officer’s demands that he drop his weapon.

Two veteran officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department fired at Mitchell, striking him at least once. He was taken to a hospital and officers described his condition on Friday as stable.

IMPD said officers had their body-worn cameras on during the shooting but that video has not been released. IMPD has not named the officers involved but said one has been with the department for 16 years and the other for 31 years.

Officers released two pictures of weapons recovered at the scene.

On Sunday night, family and friends gathered to remember Walton.

“Once you attack the mother, the individual or a helpless woman, the consequences should be severe,” said former deputy mayor and community activist OIgen Williams.

‘Get off my mommy!’

When Walton spoke to police, she said there had been multiple domestic issues between her and Mitchell that hadn’t been reported to authorities. It was also not the first time he had strangled her, she told officers.

On the afternoon of March 20, 2021, the father of Walton’s 6-year-old daughter came to her house to pick up the child. He had called to say he was outside in his vehicle.

Walton told police that Mitchell became enraged as she was styling the child’s hair.

“I’m gonna f*** you up! I’m gonna mess around and kill you!” she recounted him saying.

She begged him to stop until her daughter left. She said he left the room and thought he was going to grab a gun.

The father then called again. Mitchell, who had Walton by the hair, answered the phone.

“Why you keep callin’ my b****’s phone?” he said, according to court documents.

Walton said Mitchell told her she needed to get rid of the baby she was pregnant with, then grabbed her by the neck, forced her back onto a bed and climbed on top of her.

She told police that her daughter jumped on Mitchell’s back and yelled, “Get off my mommy!”

Along with her daughter, Walton fled to her mother’s house nearby.

Mitchell was arrested and later charged with three felonies and a misdemeanor. A no-contact order was served on April 6, 2021.

This case wasn’t resolved until June 26 when Mitchell took a plea deal, receiving a year’s probation for misdemeanor domestic battery in the presence of a child under 16 years of age.

‘This will be the last time you call for someone’

Not even two months after Mitchell was sentenced, Walton had to call police again.

On Aug. 6, 2022, Walton was at her mother’s house on the city’s northwest side when Mitchell showed up. By then, she had given birth to Mitchell’s son, who was now 11 months old. She told officers she had received a text message from Mitchell earlier in the day. Mitchell wanted to pick up the child a day earlier than scheduled.

When she realized it was Mitchell knocking at the door, she pushed a couch against the door.

She told an IMPD officer that he then forced his way into the home and began threatening her when she tried calling police.

“This will be the last time you call for someone,” he said, according to court documents. “If you call the police, it’ll be the last thing you do.”

She said he eventually left after about five minutes.

Charges for residential entry, invasion of privacy and intimidation weren’t filed by the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office until five weeks later, on Sept. 15. A warrant for Mitchell’s arrest was issued on the same day. When the charges were filed, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office asked to hold Mitchell for seven-days without bond and wanted his probation revoked.

Mitchell wasn’t located until after Walton’s death.

As of Monday afternoon, online jail records do not yet list Mitchell as in custody in the Marion County Jail. Formal charges by the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office have not yet been filed.

News 8 has requested Mitchell’s mugshot but it has not yet been released.

Online court records have him set for a remote initial hearing in the residential entry case on Tuesday afternoon.