DARKE COUNTY — A school district’s athletic department is remembering a woman killed in Darke County last week.
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As previously reported, fire crews found 50-year-old Ericka Kramer dead inside a house on Zumbrum Road while responding to a fire on Friday.
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The Ansonia Local School District’s Athletic Department said Kramer was the varsity cheerleading head coach.
“Coach Ericka will be deeply missed. Please keep the Kramer Family in your thoughts and prayers,” the department said.
As previously reported, 22-year-old Peyton Beam was arrested on aggravated murder and aggravated arson charges for Kramer’s death.
In court on Monday, the Darke County Prosecutor’s Office outlined the murder charges against him.
Beam reportedly did farm work for Kramer.
“The victim in this matter was executed by the defendant. She was shot twice in the back and twice in the head. Her body was then drenched in what appears to be gasoline, and then her house set on fire to cover up this crime,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Beam is a firefighter for the Ansonia Volunteer Fire Department and was one of the first ones to respond to the scene, according to a previous News Center 7 report.
“(He) was called out as a firefighter to respond to this scene. Under the guise of being a firefighter, he was one of the first people to get to the property with the house on fire,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Beam’s attorney, John H. Rion, said the 22-year-old would never hurt someone he’d worked with for the last seven years.
Rion said Beam called Kramer his second mother.
Darke County investigators believe they have the circumstances correct.
“We’re still actively investigating, and it’s a typical strategy to keep that information close to the investigation and the investigators,” Darke County Sheriff Mark Whittaker said.
Beam remains booked in the Darke County Jail.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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