Bond set for Middletown woman accused of shooting and killing her sister

A Middletown woman was arraigned Tuesday in Butler County Common Pleas Court for allegedly shooting and killing her sister last week at their Lafayette Avenue home in what prosecutors say was planned as a murder suicide.

Monica Ann Pennington, 48, of 1607 Lafayette Ave., was booked into the Middletown City Jail on Wednesday just a few hours after her sister, Pamela Pennington, 52, was shot dead. She was indicted by a Butler County grand jury Friday for murder and felonious assault.

Judge Keith Spaeth set Pennington’s bond at $650,000 and she is scheduled to be back in court Nov. 4 for a pre-trial hearing.

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Court-appointed defense attorney David Brewer entered a not guilty plea on her behalf.

Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Dan Phillips said during the hearing, the sisters were involved in a physical fight, which was not uncommon in their lives, when Monica walked into her sister’s bedroom, grabbed her pistol, walked back to sister and pointed it at her.

“Her sister said ‘You are not going to shoot me’ and she shot her,” Phillip said. “The defendant indicated after that it was going to be a murder suicide, but she did not go through with the suicide part.”

Middletown dispatchers received a call about 8:40 a.m. from a woman who identified herself as Monica. She said she had shot her sister, who was in the living room.

“I shot her. She was beating me,” the caller said. “She wouldn’t leave me alone.”

According to the complaint signed by Detective Kristy Hughes, Pennington said during an interview that “she and her sister were involved in a physical altercation. The defendant went into the bedroom, retrieved a gun and shot her sister in the living room.”