WINTERSET, Iowa —
A man is behind bars Tuesday after authorities charged him in the death of an Iowa mother of three.
Authorities charged Jerome Moyer with first-degree murder after finding 23-year-old Roseanna Otto dead in her home.
“She was totally outgoing,” said Lilly Steil, Otto’s sister. “She was an amazing, amazing mother. She loved her kids very much.”
Steil said Otto’s children were in the home when Moyer entered and shot her Monday night.
“She had multiple gunshots in her bed in a pool of blood,” she said.
The Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office arrested Moyer after a traffic stop.
Otto shared two of her three children with Moyer. All three children are under the age of 10.
“I don’t know how you could put your children at risk like that,” Steil said. “One of those girls could’ve woken up and found their mother that way, and to me that just shows how little remorse he has.”
Police have not released a possible motive for the shooting.
Otto’s family said they want the public to focus on the victim rather than the alleged perpetrator.
“All over social media you see his picture, and everyone is posting about how he’s such a bad guy, but I want everyone to be posting about how amazing she is and share her picture, not his picture,” Steil said.
She said her family focused on remembering Otto and making sure her young daughters know how much their mother loved them.
“Those girls are really going to miss her,” Steil said. “Growing up without their mom, it’s going to be hard.”
Moyer is being held in Dubuque County Jail and will be transported to Madison County for his trial.
Otto’s family created a Roseanna Otto Memorial Fund at Banker’s Trust to help support her three daughters.
