The Pineville Police Department announced Friday that they arrested a Tennessee man on domestic‑violence murder charges after a pregnant woman from Kentucky was discovered dead, her unborn child missing.
Officers arrived on Wednesday, Sept. 23, after a call reported a dead person at the 300 block of George Martin Drive in Pineville. Together with the Bell County Coroner’s Office, they identified the 41‑year‑old victim as April (Barlow) Celio and ruled the death a homicide. Bell County EMS and the Pineville Fire Department also responded to the scene.
Investigators discovered the following day that Celio was pregnant when she died. The State Medical Examiner’s Office found no fetus in her womb, and a search of the property by Pineville Police, the Bell County Sheriff’s Office, and Kentucky State Police uncovered what appears to be fetal remains.
Detectives named DeMarcus Kenneth Johnson‑Wright as the suspect, noting his extensive violent criminal record and several outstanding felony warrants in Tennessee.
On Friday, Sept. 25, the Bell County District Court issued warrants charging Johnson‑Wright with first‑degree robbery and adult kidnapping. A week later, on Sept. 30, additional warrants added domestic‑violence murder and tampering with physical evidence.
After the new charges, local officials called in the U.S. Marshals Service’s Central Kentucky Fugitive Task Force from the London office. Investigators soon located Johnson‑Wright at the 200 block of Timber Court Drive in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Federal task forces from Central Kentucky and Middle Tennessee, joined by the Clarksville Police Special Operations Unit and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s K‑9 Unit, raided the residence. Around 11:00 p.m. CST, officers placed Johnson‑Wright in custody and escorted him to the Clarksville Special Operations office for questioning by Bell County and federal investigators.
A search warrant on the Clarksville home yielded evidence tied to the homicide, which authorities seized. Johnson‑Wright was then booked into the Montgomery County Detention Center in Tennessee, awaiting extradition to Kentucky.
Celio, a mother of three, was memorialized on a GoFundMe page created by her sister, Amanda De Paz.
“There are no words that can truly explain what our family is going through right now,” De Paz wrote. “One moment she was here , someone we could call, hug, laugh with, and love , and now we are trying to figure out how to say goodbye to her far too soon. She was very loved by her family.”
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