A firefighter in Ohio is accused of killing a woman he called a second mother, who was also a varsity cheerleading coach.
The Darke County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post that firefighters were responding to a house fire in Ansonia, Ohio, on April 10 when they discovered the body of 50-year-old Ericka Kramer. Authorities allege that Peyton Beam, a firefighter, started the fire in Kramer’s home, then killed her.
“(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 during a bond hearing, according to WHIO.
Beam is a firefighter with the Ansonia Volunteer Fire Department. He was charged with aggravated murder and aggravated arson.
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Officials said Kramer was in the home minutes before the fire. Prosecutors said during the hearing that Kramer was shot four times.
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“The victim in this matter was executed by the defendant. She was shot twice in the back and twice in the head,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Prosecutors said it’s their belief that Beam lit Kramer’s gasoline-drenched body on fire and left the house.
John Rion, Beam’s attorney, said the suspect did farm work with Kramer and called her a second mother, adding that he would never hurt her.
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“We’d be very interested in ballistics in this case, very interested in any evidence other than inference,” Rion said.
Beam’s bond was set at $5 million.
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Kramer was a varsity cheerleading coach at Ansonia Local School in addition to being a mother of one child.
“The Ansonia Athletic Department is saddened to hear of the passing of our Varsity Cheerleading Head Coach, Ericka Kramer. Coach Ericka will be deeply missed. Please keep the Kramer Family in your thoughts and prayers. FOREVER A TIGER,” the school wrote in a Facebook post.
According to an obituary for Kramer, she had an “extraordinary and unbreakable” bond with her daughter, which shaped her life.
“A love so deep that it defined her entire world. Everything she did was rooted in that connection, and the joy she found in being a mother shone through in every part of her life,” the obituary states. “Ericka will be remembered for her boundless kindness and selflessness. She was the kind of person who would give the shirt off her back without hesitation, always putting others before herself. Her warmth, generosity, and genuine spirit made the world a better place, and words truly fall short in capturing just how remarkable she was.”
