Soldier, Jonathan Downing, charged in wife’s slaying

A soldier who had been slated to begin serving at Fort Campbell in Tennessee was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of killing his wife, police said.

Jonathan Clyde Downing, 31, was being held without bond and will be tried in civilian court in the killing of 25-year-old Sena Marie Downing, said Jim Knoll, public information officer for police in Clarksville, Tennessee.

Police officers went to the couple’s Clarksville home shortly after 3 a.m. after receiving notice of a possible shooting, Knoll said.

“When the officers responded, the door was ajar; they went in and found her inside of the garage, and she had been shot,“ Knoll told CNN in a telephone interview.

A few hours later, officers with the Tennessee Highway Patrol and the Robertson County Sheriff’s Office located Downing’s vehicle about 20 miles away in Robertson County and found Downing in woods nearby, Knoll said.

“That’s where he finally gave up,“ Knoll said. “It took them almost two hours to convince him.“

Downing, who had recently served at Fort Knox in Kentucky, was taken into custody shortly before noon and was charged with criminal homicide.