Louisville woman filed fake Missing Persons report for her stepson after murder, police say

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville police made a fourth arrest Monday in connection to the shooting death of a 20-year-old man late last year.

Jill Brooks, 51, was charged with hindering prosecution or apprehension and falsely reporting an incident to law enforcement. In a news release Monday, Louisville Metro Police said Brooks is the stepmother of the 17-year-old who was charged last week with murder, robbery and tampering with physical evidence in the Dec. 20 shooting of 20-year-old Milton Ritchie in southwest Louisville.

His name won't be released because he is underage.

According to Brooks' arrest citation, she told her stepson to delete his messages and reported him missing, as he had requested in an earlier message. The Missing Persons report was filed Dec. 22.

Brook's arrest marked the fourth in Ritchie's murder. Last month, Daontez Hodges, 19, was arrested and charged with murder, robbery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and unlawful transaction with a minor.

The shooting happened on the afternoon of Dec. 20 in the 3000 block of Fordhaven Road, off St. Anthony Church Road, near Pleasure Ridge Park. LMPD officers found Ritchie outside a vehicle in a ditch with gunshot wounds. Investigators determined Ritchie had been shot in the neck and lower back.

Court documents indicate Ritchie had been invited to meet a 15-year-old girl. When Ritchie arrived at the scene he was greeted by the girl, Hodges and several other people. That's when police said Hodges fired two shots from a rifle at Ritchie, killing him.

Investigators determined that the 15-year-old girl was part of a "revenge" plot that included taking Ritchie's car after he was shot, and that she contacted Hodges to let him know Ritchie had arrived. Court records indicate 911 callers and witnesses told police "a large crowd was present in the area" when Ritchie was shot.

The girl was arrested a few days after the killing. She is charged with complicity to murder and robbery.

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