1 dead in apparent homicide

A Cape Girardeau County woman is dead after an apparent homicide Thursday west of Gordonville.

The victim is 27-year-old Melissa Luttrell, Cape Girardeau County Coroner John Clifton said.

Authorities were investigating the crime scene Thursday evening at a home near the intersection of routes F and Z.

The sheriff's office received a medical call from the home just before 4 p.m. and then received a second call for a medical assist, according to a news release from the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department.

When medical workers and deputies arrived, they determined Luttrell had died from a gunshot wound, and a man also had gunshot wounds, the release stated.

The man was transported to a hospital, where he underwent surgery. He is expected to live, the release stated.

Onlookers at the scene were visibly agitated, and sheriff's deputies had blocked access to the property where the fatality occurred. The driveway had been taped off with crime-scene tape, and few vehicles were parked nearby. Two deputies, Sheriff John Jordan and a chaplain were outside the small home with family members.

An autopsy is expected to be performed, possibly today, the release stated.

This is Cape Girardeau County's first homicide of 2015. There were four homicides in the county in 2014, according to Missouri Uniform Crime Reporting data released earlier this year. All four were shootings that took place within Cape Girardeau city limits.

kwebster@semissourian.com

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