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Dad admits to murdering mom on son’s birthday

Posted at 4:08 PM, Sep 09, 2013
and last updated 2013-09-10 06:42:57-04

MIDDLESEX COUNTY, Va. (WTVR) - A Middlesex County man is charged with first-degree murder after he admitted to killing his girlfriend while trying to visit his son on his son's birthday, Middlesex Sheriff's Office Maj. M.E. Sampson said.

Investigators said a "crying and distraught" Travis Baker, 34, walked into the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office on Sunday evening and told investigators he'd “snapped and shot her in the head.”

When deputies arrived at the Urbanna Rd. home, they found Wendy Billups, 33, of Saluda, shot dead. Investigators said Billups died from two gunshot wounds.

Deputies said Baker went to the Urbanna Rd. home to see his children on his son’s birthday. They said Billups was Baker's girlfriend and that she was raising the couple's two young children.

Billups told Baker that despite it being his son's birthday, he would have to leave and police say that's when Baker shot her twice.

A Virginia State Police forensic team helped the Middlesex Sheriff's Office process the crime scene.

Baker is officially charged with willfully deliberately and with premeditation kill and murder in the first degree and use or display in a threatening manner a firearm while committing or attempting to commit murder, according to Maj. Sampson.