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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky man was charged Friday with killing his parents, his sister and an acquaintance nearly a week after the four were found shot to death in southwestern Kentucky.
Ryan Champion, 36, was arrested and charged with four counts of capital murder and one count of capital kidnapping, Kentucky State Police Sgt. Dean Patterson said. The suspect was being held in the Christian County Detention Center.
The victims included the suspect's parents, Lindsey Champion, 62, and Joy Champion, 60; and his 31-year-old sister, Emily Champion. They were found dead along with 22-year-old Vito Riservato, identified as an acquaintance of Ryan Champion.
Patterson declined to discuss a possible motive and provided few details about the slayings.
"We collected a tremendous amount of evidence from the crime scene," he said. "As things started to come together, we finally developed enough probable cause to make the charge today."
The victims were found "in and around" the parents' home in Cadiz, state police said.
Autopsies showed all four died of gunshot wounds.
After the shootings last Sunday, Ryan Champion went to a relative's house across the street and asked a family member to contact authorities, Patterson said. He said the relative did not want to be identified.
Immediately after the shootings and before he was a suspect, Ryan Champion was taken to a hospital for symptoms of shock, Patterson said. He did not leave the area after his release from the hospital, but Patterson declined to say whether police had interviewed him.
"He's been out and about," Patterson said. "We've been kind of keeping tabs on him."
Ryan Champion was a contractor by trade and his most recent residence was in Oak Grove, Kentucky, Patterson said.
State police had initially said one of the victims was suspected of the shooting.
Patterson offered no details Friday about how Ryan Champion and Riservato knew one another or for how long. Investigators now believe that the other victims didn't know Riservato, Patterson said.
"If there was any acquaintance, it wasn't much of one at all — if at all," Patterson said.
Emily Champion was in Cadiz for a short visit at the time of the slayings, and the capital kidnapping charge against Ryan Champion pertains to her, Patterson said. He declined to elaborate.
Emily Champion was a veterinarian at Baronne Veterinary Clinic of Sunset, Louisiana. She graduated from Auburn University's college of veterinary medicine in 2008 and had worked at the clinic since 2009, according to her biography on the clinic's website.
Joy Champion was a retired teacher who taught for 30 years at schools in Trigg County.
Cadiz is located about 40 miles northwest of Clarksville, Tennessee.
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