On the morning of Sunday, December 31, 2023, deputies and state troopers responded to a home in the 6000 block of Mt. Carmel Road in Fredericksburg, Indiana, after a distress call about a woman with a gunshot wound. Officers found 32-year-old Heather D. Lawson deceased. An autopsy by Dr. Bill Ralston determined the cause of death to be a single gunshot wound.

Investigators from the Indiana State Police, Washington County Sheriff’s Department, the Washington County Coroner’s Office and the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department processed the scene. Law enforcement’s preliminary findings described the shooting as appearing to be an accidental discharge, but detectives kept the case open for further review. No suspects or arrests had been named as of the last public update.

Heather Lawson was remembered as an outdoors enthusiast and mother of three children, Mason, Jeremiah, and Scarlett. If anyone has information about that morning on Mt. Carmel Road or knew Heather, please share what you know with investigators.