The indictment accuses Amanda Heller of attempted aggravated murder after two shots were allegedly fired in a home.
BRYAN, Ohio — A Williams County grand jury has indicted a Montpelier woman on attempted aggravated murder and other charges after authorities said she entered her ex-husband’s home, threatened him and fired a handgun while he was inside.
The indictment moved Amanda S. Heller’s case from a reported home intrusion into a higher-stakes felony prosecution. The April 26 incident did not leave anyone with reported physical injuries, but prosecutors are pursuing charges that focus on intent, entry into an occupied home and the discharge of a firearm. Heller, 31, is being held at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio while the case proceeds. The charges are allegations, and she is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The grand jury action was certified May 21 in Williams County Common Pleas Court. That date also appears in jail records as the day Heller was booked into custody. The indictment lists four counts: attempted aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, domestic violence and improperly discharging a firearm at or into a habitation or a school safety zone. The attempted aggravated murder and aggravated burglary charges are both listed as first-degree felonies with specifications. The firearm count is listed as a second-degree felony with specifications, while the domestic violence count is listed as a fourth-degree misdemeanor.
Prosecutors used the indictment to describe what they believe happened before, during and after the gunfire. The attempted aggravated murder count alleges Heller acted purposely and with prior calculation and design in an attempt to cause another person’s death. The aggravated burglary count alleges she trespassed in an occupied structure while someone was present and did so with the purpose to commit a criminal offense. That count also alleges she inflicted, attempted to inflict or threatened to inflict physical harm. The domestic violence count says a family or household member was made to believe physical harm would occur.
The facts beneath those counts trace back to a criminal complaint filed in Bryan Municipal Court. According to the complaint, Heller entered the home of her ex-husband on April 26 while he was in bed. Authorities said she made threats against him and fired two rounds from a handgun. The complaint said she “fired two rounds of a handgun while in the home,” a short phrase that became central to the public account of the case. The man was not named in the reports reviewed, though WTOL identified him as Heller’s ex-husband. No injuries were mentioned, and no one else was reported to have been inside the home.
The municipal court case began with a felonious assault charge before the matter was bound over to common pleas court. That shift is common when felony allegations move beyond an initial complaint and into the grand jury process. Heller’s bond was set at $100,000 in the earlier proceeding, and a court order barred her from contacting the alleged victim if she were released. The order means any release from custody would not end the court’s control over her movements and contact with the man. It also reflects the domestic nature of the allegation, since the alleged victim is a former spouse.
Officials have not publicly filled in several gaps. The reports reviewed do not say what led up to the alleged entry, how Heller is accused of getting into the home, where in the residence the shots were fired or what direction the bullets traveled. They do not say whether investigators recovered the handgun, whether the alleged victim called 911, whether neighbors heard the shots or whether there were earlier reports involving the former couple. The public record also does not explain the nearly monthlong span between the alleged April 26 incident and Heller’s May 21 booking.
The absence of reported injuries does not remove the seriousness of the charges. Ohio prosecutors can charge attempted aggravated murder when they believe a defendant took a substantial step toward purposely causing a death with prior calculation and design. The indictment’s specifications may also matter later because they can affect sentencing exposure if a person is convicted. Aggravated burglary focuses on unlawful entry into an occupied structure and the threat or use of harm inside it. The firearm-related count focuses on the danger of discharging a gun at or into a place where people live.
The case is unfolding in a small-county court system where public filings often reveal the legal frame before investigators release a detailed narrative. Williams County sits in northwest Ohio, with Bryan as the county seat and Montpelier among its smaller communities. The Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio, where Heller is held, is in Stryker and serves multiple counties in the region. Jail records carry standard warnings that inmate information can change quickly and that a person is innocent until proven guilty. Court records also can lag behind filings and judicial action.
Heller was scheduled for a pretrial hearing June 22 at 2:30 p.m. The hearing was the next public step after the indictment and booking. Pretrial hearings can address case deadlines, evidence exchange, bond conditions and possible motions, but they do not decide guilt. The reports reviewed did not identify a public statement from Heller, a defense attorney or the alleged victim. They also did not report that prosecutors had released police body camera footage, 911 audio, photographs of the scene or a detailed probable cause affidavit beyond the complaint language.
For now, the prosecution rests publicly on the charging documents: an alleged entry into an occupied home, a threat to kill, two rounds fired and a former spouse listed as the alleged victim. Heller remained in custody in the latest reports, and the next court filings will show how the attempted aggravated murder case moves through Williams County Common Pleas Court.
Author note: Last updated June 23, 2026.