Michigan police found the body of a woman reported missing in Tennessee, in the trunk of a vehicle that her girlfriend was driving. When the police caught up with the car after it crashed, a shootout broke out between the officers and the driver, who subsequently killed herself.
Eleni Kassa, 31, was reported missing from her Murfreesboro, Tennessee home by her family on November 18. They said she neglected to pick up her daughter from school, according to a statement released by the Murfreesboro Police Department. That concerned the family and they called the police.
Police found Kassa on November 27, dead in the trunk of a car her girlfriend, Dominique Hardwick, 36, was driving in Dearborn, Michigan when they caught up with the vehicle. Police began tracking Hardwick’s vehicle from her apartment in Murfreesboro. Police later spotted the car in Ohio and Michigan and then tracked it to Dearborn, Michigan, where they tried to detain her and a passenger on Sunday afternoon.
Hardwick’s Dodge Charger crashed into a house, and as police officers tried to approach it, she began shooting at the officers. According to the Michigan State Police, she then shot herself in the head. Her autopsy results showed that she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Hardwick had another woman in the car. Police said they encountered a 34-year-old woman in the passenger seat. She was transported to a hospital for her injuries in the crash. Police said they were interviewing her, but did not give information about her relationship with the driver, Hardwick.
The investigation revealed that there may have been a domestic violence incident between Hardwick and Kassa before the two traveled in mid-November. A statement by Tennessee officials filed on November 28, after police found Kassa’s body, said that the two women had allegedly argued in Kassa’s apartment before leaving the house together.
Kassa left her mobile phone in the house.
Authorities also said there was evidence of domestic violence between the couple, and that the police had responded to an incident in August at their home.
A police report from the August incident said Hardwick had pushed and struck Kassa in the face because of an argument involving jealousy. First responders said Hardwick grabbed her girlfriend by the neck and broke her jaw. Kassa told police that she found it hard to breathe after the fight.
At the time of the August incident, police arrested Hardwick and charged her with aggravated domestic assault.
An official from the Murfreesboro Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Center, Ericka Downing, told a news outlet that she often encounters cases of women involved with domestic violence. Downing said that Tennessee has numerous agencies that can help people going through domestic abuse.
Police from both Tennessee and Michigan are investigating the death of Kassa, looking to determine the circumstances surrounding her death.
