Crime Ex-Boyfriend Charged with 2015 Murder of Ohio Mother Killed While Children Were at School Candance Prunty was shot to death at her Springfield, Ohio, home on Oct. 21, 2015 By Chris Harris Chris Harris Twitter Chris Harris has been a senior true crime reporter for PEOPLE since late 2015. An award-winning journalist who has worked for Rolling Stone and MTV News, Chris enjoys prog rock, cycling, Marvel movies, IPAs, and roller coasters. People Editorial Guidelines Published on September 1, 2021 11:07 AM Share Tweet Pin Email Candance Prunty. Photo: Facebook Nearly six years after he was first identified as a person of interest in her shooting death, Candance Prunty's ex-boyfriend has been formally charged in Ohio with the 26-year-old's murder. Clark County Prosecutor Dan Driscoll tells PEOPLE that Thomas Albert, 38, was also indicted Monday on aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, felonious assault, weapons, and tampering with evidence charges stemming from the 2015 homicide. Prunty was shot to death at her Springfield, Ohio, home on Oct. 21, 2015. According to Springfield News-Sun, the young mother was shot in her head and neck while her three children were at school. Relatives found her lifeless body on the floor of her kitchen after she failed to pick up the children from school. At the time of her murder, her three sons were 1, 4 and 7, the paper reports. Thomas Albert. Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction Albert was Prunty's ex-boyfriend, and police believed in 2015 he had something to do with her killing. The News-Sun reports that advancements in crime scene investigation technology helped authorities link Albert to evidence recovered from Prunty's home in 2015. Albert, online records show, has been in an Ohio prison since 2018 after being convicted on unrelated attempted homicide and aggravated robbery charges. He becomes parole eligible in 2045. Prunty's mother, Patricia Beard, spoke to the News-Sun about Monday's indictment. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Beard said the filing of charges has not brought her any sense of closure. A trial, and a conviction, would. "It seems like heaven opened up and showered blessings upon us," Beard said. "Justice … that's what we wanted." A motive, if known, has not been revealed publicly. Albert has yet to enter pleas to the charges against him, and his attorney was unavailable Wednesday for comment.