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Last updated on Sunday, May 20, 2012
(SOUTHPORT) - A woman was arrested hours after the Saturday morning killing of a church pastor inside the church.
Lori Ann Barcroft, 46, was arrested on a murder charge in the fatal shooting of Jaman Iseminger, 29.
Iseminger was a pastor at Bethel Community Church at 2810 E. Southport Road.
Southport Police Chief Randy Ellison said officers were called to the church just before 7 a.m. and found Iseminger bleeding just outside the building.
Iseminger was taken to Wishard Memorial Hospital, where he later died.
"They've lost a leader. They've lost a friend," said Danny Carroll, a friend of Iseminger. "He's cried with them and sat with them in their darkest moments, so absolutely, it's a shock, and it's painful."
Investigators said that some members were at the church preparing for an annual cleanup of cemetery grounds when a woman walked up to them and asked to speak to the minister.
Church members told the woman that the minister was inside, and they reported hearing gunshots soon afterward, police said.
Iseminger stumbled out of the church behind the woman before he collapsed, witnesses told police.
Officers set up a perimeter in the neighborhood and sent in a K-9 that found Barcroft hiding in some bushes a few blocks from the church.
Investigators said Barcroft is homeless and that they are unaware of any connection between her and Iseminger. Ellison said that during questioning, she confessed to killing Iseminger.
When she was found, police said Barcroft had a gun and $2.
"It's been absolutely rough to see an amazing man of God just be taken out of the game," Carroll said. "But we know that his death is going to be far more meaningful than what the enemy intended."
Donna Smith, who lives across the street from the church, witnessed the aftermath of the shooting, just as she'd seen Iseminger's community work.
"He really impressed me, and he truly loved the Lord," Smith said. "It was just great to see a man his age serve and be involved in the community."
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