A Princeton man charged in the January shooting death of his wife appeared for an arraignment in Caldwell Circuit Court Tuesday morning.
Byron Black was indicted by a grand jury in March on charges of murder and abuse of a corpse that occurred between January 25 and January 27, according to the indictment.
The public defender for Black, Mary Rohrer, waived the formal arraignment and reading of the indictment and entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf. Judge Jamus Redd scheduled Black to appear in court at 9:00 on Tuesday morning, June 4th.
Black is accused of fatally shooting Kelly Black in the back of the head. Princeton Police reported that officers found her body during a welfare check at a Center Street home on Sunday, January 28th. An Amber Alert was issued shortly thereafter when law enforcement could not locate the couple’s 5-year old daughter who was believed to be with her father, Byron Black.
Detective Jacob Stephens with state police testified during a preliminary hearing in Caldwell District Court on February 5th that Kelly Black had flown into the Nashville, Tennessee airport on Thursday, January 25, with security video showing her and Byron Black getting into a vehicle.
Stephens also testified that when state police arrived on the scene on that Sunday, Kelly Black’s luggage was still inside the vehicle where detectives also found blood and a shell casing.
During the investigation, Princeton Police located Black’s pickup truck at a Princeton hotel, where he was arrested on a warrant, and their daughter was found safe. Stephens also stated they found a handgun inside Byron Black’s truck.
Black remains lodged in the Caldwell County Jail under a $1 million bond.
