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Trooper with Durham home indicted for murder
Andrea Macko reports for Porcupine Soup that a Greene County-based state trooper, Christopher Baldner, was indicted for murder, for ramming his car into another and killing an 11-year-old girl during a 2020 police pursuit on the New York State Thruway. During a summer that saw a truck drive into protesters in Minnesota, and a police car drive into protesters in New York City, Baldner drove his police car into a vehicle driven by Tristan Goods, killing his 11-year-old daughter Monica. Baldner had pulled over Goods for allegedly going too fast on I-87 in Ulster County, and while writing a ticket, things somehow escalated and he sprayed the interior of the car with pepper spray. Goods then drove off, and the chase ended with Baldner ramming the car, and Monica Goods ejected from the vehicle and dead. “Police officers are entrusted to protect and serve, but Trooper Baldner allegedly violated that trust when he used his car as a deadly weapon and killed a young girl,” said Attorney General Letitia James said, announcing the indictment Oct. 27. “While nothing will bring Monica back, we must hold law enforcement to the highest standards, which is why my office is committed to seeking justice in this case.” Baldner currently has a home in Greenville, and formerly owned a house in Catskill. He was indicted on charges of murder in the second degree, manslaughter in the second degree, and reckless endangerment in the first degree. Read more about this story in Porcupine Soup.