Jeremy Shayne Baldridge, 23, of Valdese, was given an active prison term of 28 to 35 years following his conviction for second-degree murder during Burke County Superior Court on Monday, February 3, 2020.
The Honorable Marvin P. Pope, Superior Court Judge from Buncombe County, imposed the sentence for Baldridge, who pleaded guilty to the charge just eight months after the shooting death of 18-year-old Caitlyn Alexis Truax.
The defendant will serve his prison sentence in the custody of the North Carolina Division of Adult Corrections.
Baldridge shot and killed Truax, his former girlfriend, at her residence on June 3, 2019. He called 911, told the dispatcher where he was, that he had shot his ex-girlfriend and wanted to turn himself in.
Officers responded to that location and detained the defendant. He told officers where they could find a revolver with ammunition, and they seized those items from the location Baldridge gave them.
The fatal shooting occurred after Baldridge and Truax had been engaged in communication earlier that evening that led to a dispute of some kind. He went to Truax’s location where he shot her with the revolver. Truax’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head from an intermediate range.
Rocky Xiong handled the investigation for the Burke County Sheriff’s Office along with assistance from the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation. Michelle Lippert and Jonathan Greer prosecuted the matter for the District Attorney’s Office, aided by Legal Assistant David DiMaggio.
CONTACT: Nathan Key
Phone: 828-695-6193
Email: Nathan.D.Key@nccourts.org