Reward offered in Baker murder

Published 9:01 am Tuesday, April 1, 2014

AHOSKIE – Those with information on the person responsible for taking the life of an elderly Ahoskie woman can benefit financially by sharing those facts with local law enforcement.

The Ahoskie Crime Stoppers along with the family of the late Ruby Martin Baker have posted a $5,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of person/parties responsible for her death.

Baker, 85, was shot and killed in her Parker Ave. residence during a home invasion in the early morning hours of March 2.

Anyone with information may contact Lt. Jeremy Roberts with the Ahoskie Police Department at (252) 332-5012, or the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations at (919) 662-4500.

Ahoskie Police Chief Troy Fitzhugh stressed that any information, no matter how small, can help lead his department to the killer.

“We are not relying only on this reward to generate information on this case,” Fitzhugh said yesterday (Monday). “We are still following up on several leads as well as waiting for the evidence we have in this case to be finalized by the SBI lab in Raleigh.

“In the meantime, somebody out there knows something about this murder,” he added. “Sometimes it takes a cash reward to learn of those clues that will aid in our effort to solve this case. We’re asking anyone with that information to step forward and help us help this family have some closure on who killed their loved one.”

Baker was shot around 1 a.m. on March 2 by an intruder or intruders. She was transported to Vidant Roanoke-Chowan Hospital where she succumbed a short time later due to a single gunshot wound to the chest.

The Ahoskie Police were alerted to Baker’s home, located at 802 Parker Avenue, through a call received from ADT alarm monitoring service. Responding law enforcement officers secured the residence and launched an investigation, to include calling the SBI for assistance.

About Cal Bryant

Cal Bryant, a 40-year veteran of the newspaper industry, serves as the Editor at Roanoke-Chowan Publications, publishers of the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald, Gates County Index, and Front Porch Living magazine.

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