The Luke tragedy
Angela and Daniel’s daughters watched in horror as their father viciously beat up their mother.
What had started as a peaceful Sunday evening quickly escalated into a night of terrors. Angela and Daniel’s twelve-year-old daughter frantically called the police.
Dispatcher: 911, Where is your emergency?
Daughter: My dad’s being really mean to my mommy.
Dispatcher: What’s he doing?
Daughter: He’s hitting my mom and he’s banging her into the ground.
Dispatcher: How old are you?
Daughter: Twelve.
Dispatcher: Do you know what they’re fighting about?
Daughter: Everything…Please hurry! My dad broke my mother’s arm?…Oh my God!
He pushed her. He pushed her really hard and she fell again. We’re all outside.
My mom really hurt her arm. Dad! Get off me. Get off my mommy…. Are you guys almost here?
Dispatcher: Yes honey, they’re coming, ok? They’re on their way.
Daughter: We’re pulling out of the driveway right now. Go fast mommy. Go fast.
Ahhh! Oh my God!
He just….. he’s dead! He’s dead! He’s really dead!…My father’s dead! Can you please come help? My father’s dead!
Angela and Daniel Were Married for Eighteen Years
Angela and Daniel Luke stayed together in their marriage for eighteen years.
When the couple met, they immediately hit it off. The two got married, and they moved to Central Ohio, USA.
Daniel took up his career as a baker. Angela became an elementary school teacher.
The couple welcomed their first daughter six years into the marriage. Then, they had another daughter three years later.
Angela and Daniel Often Got Into Physical Fights
Angela and Daniel often got physically violent, Daniel being the perpetrator in most cases.
But the couple’s fights often sizzled out.
And neither of them ever called for the intervention of the police.
Meanwhile, Angela and Daniel maintained a perfect marriage picture to outsiders. But in reality, their marriage was slowly crumbling down.
It became a habit of the parents to fight over everything.
And that left their young children traumatized as the couple often fought in front of them.
Daniel’s Physical Violence Got Out Of Hand
Angela and Daniel’s recurring fights eventually escalated one day.
It was on the evening of October 4th, 2015. Daniel had been drinking earlier in the day. Then Angela and Daniel started fighting.
Things escalated quickly.
Daniel held Angela, and he banged her head onto the floor inside their home. Then Daniel banged Angela’s head repeatedly onto a bed. Meanwhile, Angela tried to fight back.
She was getting bruises everywhere, especially in the areas where Daniel was banging her down.
Angela managed to set herself free from Daniel.
She grabbed her two daughters and raced outside. But Daniel followed them, and he caught up to them. Daniel pushed Angela into a flower pot.
Angela broke her arm.
Meanwhile, Angela and Daniel’s twelve-year-old daughter had called the police. She pleaded with the police for help.
And she shouted at Daniel to stop hitting her mother. But Daniel was relentless. Angela and the two children tried to get in the car. But Daniel didn’t let them.
Angela managed to fight Daniel off again, and she got in the car with their two daughters. But Daniel held onto the car.
Angela yelled at Daniel to let go. But he simply replied, “You f***ed yourself!”
Angela Pulled Out of The Driveway
Angela decided to pull out of the driveway despite Daniel still holding onto the car.
Then she heard a loud thud followed by screams from their twelve-year-old daughter. Angela had hit Daniel.
Daniel laid on the ground as he bled profusely. And their twelve-year-old daughter immediately thought that her father was dead.
The daughter yelled;
“Oh my God! He just….. he’s dead! He’s dead! He’s really dead! My father’s dead!”
Angela and Daniel’s neighbors came to help. The police arrived shortly after and rushed Daniel to the hospital. He had suffered massive head injuries.
He died a day later.
The Police Brought Angela in for Questioning
The police arrested Angela and then interviewed her.
Angela told the police that she had an altercation with Daniel. And when she was attempting to leave with her daughters, Daniel wasn’t letting them go.
Daniel held onto the car while Angela was driving away. Then she accidentally hit him.
Nonetheless, the police charged Angela with aggravated vehicular homicide and reckless homicide.
The Aftermath
The authorities dropped all charges against Angela after listening to the twelve-year-old daughter’s 911 call and further investigations.
So, Angela neither appeared before a judge nor faced a criminal charge in relation to the death of her husband.
Sources: dispatch.com, abc6onyourside, True Crime Daily