Family grieves young woman who was fatally shot in Peoria
It was 1:30 a.m. on Sept. 7 and Ashley Halcomb had awoken to hear the sound of a knock at the door. It’s not the most convenient time for someone to be asking to come into her house and she felt a sense that something, anything, was awry.
“From the time I opened my eyes to the noise, I had a feeling that something wasn’t right,” Halcomb, who lives in Mapleton, said. “Both my husband and I knew something was wrong.”
Indeed, something terrible had happened to their oldest daughter, 20-year-old Mary Halcomb, and a detective from the Peoria Police Department – along with Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood – had arrived at their home in the dark of night to give them the news no parents ever want to hear.
Mary had been killed earlier that night at a home in the 1400 block of South Griswold Street in Peoria. Upon hearing the news, Ashley went into a state of shock, not quite believing the facts that she had heard from the authorities.
“I went into sheer shock and numbness,” Ashley said. “I didn’t want to believe any of it was true.”
Unfortunately for Ashley, her husband, Luke, her two other children Chloe and Braxton and the rest of her family, it was true. The circumstances surrounding her death were considered “brutal (and) violent” by a Peoria County judge and have the family wondering about the right way to move forward following a tremendous shock.
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How it happened
According to the Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office, detectives from the Peoria Police Department found Mary’s body on the steps of stairs inside the home, with a gunshot wound in her neck. Located in her hands was a firearm with a bloody fingerprint.
Officers began searching the home, when they came across a bedroom soaked in blood. A sticky note was placed to the wall, with a promise that Mary wouldn’t break the heart of her boyfriend, 18-year-old Nathaniel Archuleta. If she broke the promise, Archuleta would have no choice but to “euthanize” her.
Archuleta was at the scene that night and spoke with detectives. However, Assistant State’s Attorney Terry Muench said that he frequently changed his story, at first telling detectives that the gun used to kill Mary accidentally went off when he was trying to clean it, but changed tack when it was discovered that he had nothing to clean the firearm available to him in the house.
He did tell detectives that he was upset Mary was talking to another man that evening and denied putting the gun in her hands. However, officers found a loaded clip inside his car, and an autopsy from Harwood’s office indicated that when the gun was fired, it was 2 to 3 feet from Mary’s neck.
Because of the inconsistencies in his story, Muench argued in court that Archuleta had been trying to cover up his alleged actions to frame it as a suicide.
Circuit Judge Mark Gilles ruled last week that Archuleta would have to be held at the Peoria County Jail before his trial on first-degree murder charges. Arraignment is set for Oct. 10 at 1 p.m.
Mary Halcomb, a 20-year-old Mapleton woman found dead on Sept. 6 in the 1400 block of South Griswold Street.
‘A heart as big as Texas’
Mary was born when Ashley was 20 years old, and her mother says that the two grew up together, in some ways. By the time she became an adult, the two thought of each other as close friends.
“We did everything together,” Ashley said. “She told me everything – sometimes a little bit too much – but I knew she trusted me.”
Ashley said that Mary had a “contagious” laugh and was someone who had a “heart the size of Texas.”
“She’d do anything for anyone,” Ashley said.
Jayne Halcomb, Mary’s paternal grandmother, said that she was a “kind, giving” person who cared for people – appropriate considering she was studying to become a nurse at Midwest Technical Institute.
“At first, she wanted to become a doctor,” Jayne said. “After she grew up, I think she realized that being a nurse would be best. She worked two to three jobs and was a nurse’s aid at several nursing homes and hospitals.”
Jayne also mentioned Mary’s passion for softball, where she played catcher for several traveling teams. The family would frequently travel with her to watch her play, with Jayne noting that she was a solid teammate to those she shared the diamond with.
“She was a good, team player,” Jayne said. “She was always looking out for the other person. She wasn’t self-centered.”
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Trying to explain the unexplainable
Ashley says she didn’t know much about Archuleta, the man that Mary was with on the night of her death. She knew that Mary frequented the house in South Peoria, but not much else.
“I knew that she would go to his house and (she) was friends with him,” Ashley said. “(But) that’s all I know.”
Now, she has to figure out a way forward without her eldest daughter and must explain this to her younger children. Chloe is in high school and, according to Ashley, is struggling to comprehend what happened two weeks ago.
“They were best friends,” Ashley said. “She is taking it pretty rough, grieving the best way she can, but trying to keep her mind busy through sports and school.”
As for Braxton, the youngest of Ashley’s three children, he didn’t quite understand what happened to his big sister until he saw her body at the visitation held in Bartonville on Sept. 14.
“It’s hard to explain with him,” Ashley said. “He’s only 10, so up until her services, I don’t think he fully comprehended the forever-ness of it. But when he saw his sister at the funeral home over the weekend, it really hit him and he’s grieving even harder.”
Ashley described Mary as a best friend to her younger siblings, which matches the description of her obituary, which noted how she was always ready to lend a hand at home.
“I miss seeing the interactions between her and her siblings,” Ashley said.
Even though two weeks have passed, Ashley remains stunned as to what she has witnessed, with her eldest child and best friend gone in a flash for no obvious reason.
“It feels like a really bad dream,” Ashley said.
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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Family grieves loss of Mapleton woman killed in Peoria shooting
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