INDIANAPOLIS — Wilma Hochstetler was the youngest of 14 siblings. Her family came to Indianapolis from Bloomfield Monday afternoon to see where their baby sister was shot and killed and to ask why.
"If they would have showed up at her house and needed anything, she would have fed them,” said Ervin Slabaugh, Wilma’s brother. “She would have given them anything they needed. And to think that those people that she would have taken care of and loved turned around and took her life, it defies logic. It defies imagination."
Jonathan and Wilma Hochstetler were working on a trailer at a roofing jobsite late Wednesday night when they were robbed and shot by two men behind Masters Auto Repair, 3702 North High School Road.
About 25 members of both sides of the couple’s family gathered at the crime scene to share their grief and try to imagine what happened.
"It makes it kind of like closure, but also brings it closer, the reality of it,” said Paul Slabaugh, Wilma’s brother.
The families built a memorial at the shooting site made from a wood pallet, decorated with flowers, balloons, photos and personal notes.
The Bloomfield couple has four children, ages 16,14, 10 and 6. Their 6-year-old son witnessed the shootings while sitting in the truck attached to the trailer.
“Wilma loved Jesus,” said Esther Garber, Wilma’s sister. “She was forgiving. She would not retaliate if she had the chance. Us siblings don't want to do that either. We forgive the people who did it. Forgiving does not mean that's it's ok. It means we release them to God, and we let God take care of it. We do want them to know that it did take the life of a very sweet mother and person in the family. She was needed."
Visitation for Wilma is Friday and the funeral Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. at Elnora Bible Institute. She will be laid to rest at Worthington Christian Fellowship.
"All four children would follow her to the door and give her a hug and a kiss,” said Ida Lehman, Wilma Hochstetler's sister. “That was the normal thing to do before she left. So what I want to get out of this is she had a Christ-like spirit and I want to be more like that."
Jonathan hopes to be released from the hospital in time to attend his wife's funeral. He is recovering from multiple surgeries after taking a bullet through his neck. He needs to pass a swallowing test on Wednesday in order to have a feeding tube removed.
Jonathan met with Metro Police Friday night at Eskenazi Hospital. Investigators have not released any suspect information but the family says the shootings were captured by a security camera.
Wilma’s family has established a Go Fund Me account.