Billy Baker sentenced to 55 years for murder of South Dearborn HS grad

William “Billy” Baker

LAWRENCEBURG, IN — A Dillsboro man was sentenced Tuesday in Dearborn Circuit Court for the shooting death of his son’s friend at a high school graduation party.

Forty-eight-year-old William “Billy” Baker was sentenced by Judge James Humphrey to 55 years in prison but will receive credit for 613 days served.

Baker pleaded guilty in June to the shooting death of 18-year-old Paycin Kritlow on July 19, 2020, just hours after Kritlow graduated from South Dearborn High School.

According to court documents, Baker told investigators his 17-year-old daughter told him she had been raped and pointed out Kritlow as the person who did it.

Baker told investigators he then grabbed his rifle and shot the man his daughter identified.

Kritlow was found by Dearborn County Sheriff’s deputies in the home’s driveway on Prosperity Ridge Road suffering from a gunshot wound to the neck and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators say Baker’s daughter told police she never said to her father she had been sexually assaulted, and that she was not aware of anyone else present at the party who made such statements.

Baker underwent a mental competency examination before sentencing.

He had been housed at the Dearborn County Law Enforcement Center since the murder but will now be transferred to an Indiana Department of Corrections facility.