A criminal defense attorney says Indiana police will have to work through a "long list of potential suspects" as investigators try to identify the individual who shot a judge and his wife at their home.
"I am so grateful for the outpouring of support from friends, the community, court colleagues, and law enforcement," Judge Meyer said in a statement Wednesday in his first public comments since the shooting. "I want to express my heartfelt thanks to my medical team. I am receiving excellent care and I am improving. Kim is also deeply appreciative for the community support, and she too is healing.
"I want the community to know that I have strong faith in our judicial system. This horrific violence will not shake my belief in the importance of peacefully resolving disputes. I remain confident we have the best judicial system in the world, and I am proud to be a part of it."
One of the most prominent cases Judge Meyer presided over involved then-married couple Kristine and Michael Barnett, who adopted Natalia Grace, a refugee from Ukraine who was accused of pretending to be a child.
In 2019, the Barnetts were charged with several counts of neglecting a dependent because of Grace's disability. The Barnetts claimed that Grace, who was diagnosed with dwarfism, lied about being a child and accused her of terrorizing their family.
The Barnetts said Grace's disability gave her a small frame that hid her age without additional medical testing. The Ukrainian hospital where Grace was born also lost her birth certificate, making it difficult to find out her true age.
According to Investigation Discovery’s documentary, "The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks," Michael claimed that Grace was violent toward his family.
"She threatened to stab my sons, drag their bodies outside and bury them underneath the deck," Michael said. "I promise you, within five years someone is dead."
Grace accused the couple of abusing her while she lived with them, and claimed she was once given three-times the prescribed dose of her heart medication.
Judge Meyer presided over Michael's jury trial in 2022 when he was found not guilty, and he also dismissed Kristine's charges in 2023. During Michael's trial, Meyer ruled that Grace was only to be referred to as an adult in the courtroom, according to violent criminal cases.
In July, Meyer sentenced Deonta Johnson to 32 years in prison after his girlfriend's 5-year-old son found his gun and fatally shot Johnson's 1-year-old son at their apartment in Lafayette, Indiana, according to the Barnett case Meyer presided over, Spilbor said the public's view of Grace had completely flipped.
"In the beginning of the case, the tide was definitely different and turned once it was determined that there was evidence to support the fact that Natalia was actually much older than everybody thought she was at first. In the initial phases, as you can imagine, whenever you have cases that deal with young children in any sort of neglect, any sort of abuse, the community support behind the child is evident and as it should be," she said.
Fox News Digital's Julia Bonavita contributed to this report.