Tara Langley

Tara Langley died in the early hours of Sunday, November 5, 2023, at a home in the 5900 block of East State Road 45, near the small Monroe County community of Unionville, not far from Bloomington, Indiana, where she lived. <cite index="8-1,8-2">A man was arrested after deputies with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office responded around 1:30 a.m. to the address near New Unionville.</cite> <cite index="3-2">They found a man, 34-year-old Bryce Leighton from Bloomington, and a deceased person with an apparent gunshot wound to the head, later identified as 48-year-old Tara Langley of Bloomington.</cite>

A neighbor had called 911 to report a disturbance at the property. <cite index="1-2,1-3">Bryce Michael Leighton, 34, stood accused of murder for the death of Tara Langley, 48, who died from a lone gunshot wound to the head according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, and officers reportedly found him outside with blood on his hands and clothing.</cite> Her death was formally confirmed by the Monroe County Coroner's Office, which identified her and scheduled an autopsy to determine the official cause of death.

Leighton was taken into custody at the scene and was later charged with murder. <cite index="5-1">He faced a preliminary charge of murder and was held without bond at the Monroe County Jail.</cite> <cite index="6-2">He claimed he killed Langley in self-defense, saying she had fired a stun gun at him during an argument.</cite> Prosecutors did not accept that account, and the case went forward as a murder prosecution.

No public funeral notice, obituary or memorial service for Tara Langley has been identified in the reports reviewed for this page, and it is not known where she was laid to rest. The reaction to her death at the time was limited mostly to local Indiana news coverage of the arrest and the criminal case rather than public tributes, which is consistent with her having been a private individual rather than a public figure.

The case against Leighton moved through the Monroe County courts for roughly three years. On October 30, 2026, a jury reached its verdict. <cite index="4-3,4-4">Bryce Michael Leighton was found guilty of murder, though online court records did not yet reflect when his sentencing would take place.</cite> Family and community reaction to the verdict had not been widely reported as of this writing, and any memorial gathering tied to the conclusion of the trial, if one is held, will be noted here when confirmed.