Suspect in Fishers gas station shooting was facing domestic violence charges

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The man police say is a person of interest in the killing a woman at a Fishers gas station was facing a variety of charges including domestic battery, strangulation, criminal confinement against the woman, News 8 has learned.

Joshua Farmer was named as a person of interest in the shooting earlier this week in Fishers.  Farmer was named as a person of interest in the shooting.

In an email from Fishers police chief Thomas Weger, Kaylah Ann Farmer was named as the woman murdered, she was the mother of three children.

News 8 has learned that Joshua Farmer faces a variety of charges dating back to an incident on May 21 of this year.

He faces domestic battery, domestic battery with a deadly weapon, strangulation, criminal confinement, interfering with reporting of a crime, intimidation with a deadly weapon and pointing a firearm at another.

According to court records, the Indiana Department of Child Services reported that Kaylah Farmer had been coming into her work attempting to cover up a black eye, bruise neck, and various bruises on her face.

Police records show that interviews with Kaylah Farmer and other family members show a pattern of domestic violence by Joshua Farmer on May 21.

• Joshua Farmer used his shoulder to strike a family member and “shouldered him hard into a chair.”
• A family member described Farmer choking Kaylah “to the point they could hear her struggling to breathe.”
• A family member described Farmer making Kaylah sit in a corner naked because the accused had “ripped her clothes off”.
• The family member said Farmer brought out a gun and held it to the family member’s head and asked Kaylah to choose between herself or the family member.
• Another family member described Farmer ripping Kaylah’s shirt off and said her neck was bleeding from her being choked.
• A third family member told police that they had hid during the attack and was coached on how to talk to police about the incident. That family member also witnessed Kaylah’s neck bleeding from being strangled, according to police.
• Police say Kaylah attempted to call 911 from her phone but didn’t believe it worked before Farmer took the phone from her.
• Kaylah stated at this particular incident she was bitten by the accused, and still had a visible bruise on her left arm from the bite. She stated she was punched approximately 5 times in the head, one being in the left eye. Kaylah also reported being choked with both the accused’s hands around the neck about 2-3 times. She also reported being kicked in the torso and hit with a baseball bat, according to police.
• Kaylah also told police that Farmer had held a gun to a family member’s head.

Charges related to the murder of Kaylah Farmer are pending.