Witnesses assist police in arrest of woman in brutal 2023 Indianapolis killing
More than a year after a brutal shooting left an Indianapolis mother dead at home with her daughter nearby, police announced an arrest in the case.
Brittany Allen, 33, was raising her 9-year-old daughter and three nephews and had just started a pharmacy technician job. She was shot five times and found dead just inside her front door on the afternoon of Jan. 27, 2023.
After a 14-month investigation, Andrea Woods, 40, was arrested Friday in Allen’s death, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
"I'm very pleased that justice is going to be served, and she's been taken off the street,” said Allen’s cousin Ebonie Peterson. “It helps to make the community safer. This was a person that the family knew, and it makes it that much more difficult.”
Previous coverage: So much was going right for Brittany Allen. Then she was shot and killed at her home.
Woods was a family friend before the shooting. Peterson said she and other family members are not sure why Woods would have wanted to hurt someone in their home.
"Even if we did know what she was upset about, nothing warrants you knocking on someone's door and shooting them in the face,” Peterson said.
Allen’s family has since moved out of the home where she was killed in the 9500 block of Village Way in northeast Indianapolis. Her daughter, who is now 10, and nephews are being cared for by their grandmother.
Information from Brittany Allen’s family led to arrest
Residents of the home heard loud knocks at the front door moments before the shooting, according to a probable cause affidavit for Woods’ arrest.
Allen went to see who was there. She yelled that she wasn’t opening the door until she could see who was outside, witnesses said.
Allen’s family members then heard a woman’s voice yell “you set my son up,” before gunfire rang out, according to the affidavit.
After the gunfire, Allen’s daughter hid in a closet before she ran out of the house with her grandmother, and they called 911.
A witness driving nearby at the time of the shooting told investigators he spotted a black Cadillac in front of the house with its flashers on.
Black Cadillac registered to suspect in Allen’s murder
Police found a 2012 black Cadillac CTS was registered to Woods. While executing a search warrant on the vehicle, investigators found a rifle and receipt for a Spike’s Tactical semi-automatic AR pistol.
“At the top of this receipt is Andrea (Woods') name,” the probable cause affidavit reads. “This pistol matches the caliber of fired cartridge casings found at the scene.”
An employee of the pawn shop where the firearm was purchased told police they recognized Woods and said she made periodic payments on the pistol until making a final payment about one month before Allen was killed, according to the affidavit.
More Indianapolis crime news: 'Beef' ends with downtown shooting of 7 Indianapolis kids, draws national headlines
Cellphone data showed Woods driving by and near Allen’s family’s home multiple times the day before the shooting, the affidavit reads.
Woods is facing a preliminary charge of murder. She did not make a statement to police after her arrest. An attorney for Woods was not yet listed in online court records before publication of this article.
Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis crime: Family friend arrested in brutal 2023 shooting
