Heidi Bake

Heidi Bake was remembered by her mother as an outgoing, free-spirited woman who lived life to the fullest and had a gift for making people laugh. A 41-year-old white female, Heidi was a mother and grandmother who was planning to marry her boyfriend, Antwan Little. Her family’s life was shattered in the summer of 2010 when a brutal home invasion ended her life and left her loved ones with a promise of justice that remains unfulfilled.

In the pre-dawn hours of Friday, June 11, 2010, Heidi and Antwan were asleep in their home on Wenning Road in Colerain Township, a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio. Their peace was violently interrupted when three armed men kicked in the side kitchen door. The intruders, described as tall, thin Black males wearing masks and white T-shirts, stormed into the master bedroom and dragged the couple out of bed. The men violently attacked them, demanding money.

The home invasion was terrifying and chaotic. Little, who later admitted to having a past as a drug dealer, said he had received a phone call about an hour earlier from someone wanting to buy drugs. He had told the caller to come back in the morning. Inside the house, as the intruders ransacked the rooms looking for money and a stash, Heidi pleaded with them. “She kept telling them we ain't got no money, we ain't got nothing,” Little recalled. “All the stuff we had is gone someone came and got that.” The couple was separated into different rooms. One of the assailants put a gun to Little’s head and pulled the trigger, but the weapon misfired. Little fought back, wrestling with the man for the gun. During the struggle, Little was shot in the leg. Heidi was shot once in the head in the living room area just outside the bedroom.

When Hamilton County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene, responding to a burglary call, they heard muffled gunshots and found a horrific scene inside the house. Heidi Bake was lying on the floor with a critical head wound, and Antwan Little was limping from the gunshot to his leg. Both were rushed to the hospital. Little survived his injuries, but Heidi succumbed to her wound the next day, June 12, 2010.

The investigation into Heidi’s murder was launched by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Section. Over the years, detectives have interviewed several suspects but have never been able to gather enough evidence to press charges. The case grew cold, but Heidi’s family and investigators have refused to let it be forgotten. In 2016, the sheriff’s department made a renewed public plea for information. “There’s a perception sometimes that a cold case is put in the file and collects dust and goes forgotten, and that’s simply not the case,” a spokesman said.

For Heidi’s family, the years without answers have been agonizing. Her sister, Heather Bake, made a promise to Heidi in the hospital room that she would never give up fighting for justice. “I can't say I want closure because there will never be closure I want justice,” Heather said. “Somebody out there took my sister’s life and there should be justice for that.” Heidi’s mother, Donna Bake, spoke of the deep and lasting trauma. "This is a very emotional, very traumatic that my family has had happen to them," she said. "Having no closure or very little information about what happened, the events that occurred that caused her to die to the pain and frustration."

Antwan Little said the events of that night changed his life forever. He stopped selling drugs, became a father, and found steady work, believing it was the life Heidi would have wanted for him. He told reporters that a few years after the murder, he ran into one of the men he believes killed Heidi. The man reportedly denied his involvement and pointed the finger at someone else. As of September 2022, Heidi Bake’s murder remains unsolved. The three men who broke into her home and took her life have never been held accountable. Investigators and Heidi’s family continue to hope that someone with information will come forward. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Douglas Todd with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office at (513) 595-7490 or call Cincinnati CrimeStoppers at (513) 352-3040.