Maury County pastor, former mayoral candidate dies by suicide after sexual battery charge

MAURY COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Maury County pastor has died by suicide after he was arrested for an aggravated sexual battery charge.

Authorities confirmed to NewsChannel 5 that David Mark Baker died by suicide on Wednesday inside a bathroom at Maury Regional Medical Center. This was one day after he was charged and was released on a $200,000 bond.

Baker served as the pastor for Family Baptist Church and served at Independent Baptist College Online. Website links have been severed to his connection to both organizations.

Baker previously ran to become the mayor of Maury County. He lost in 2022 to Mayor Shelia Butt.

He was scheduled to appear in court in early October after bonding out of the Maury County Jail on Sept. 10.

Do you have more information about this story? You can email nick.beres@newschannel5.com.

Rebecca: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/a2/d9/fb69982545c59e9836fbe80fe431/rebecca-recommends.png

Carrie: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/2e/72/be0f23854c54a228c9d6138c9847/carrie-recommends-header.png

Ben: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/df/c4/19fa7c504480938f39a431e3b276/ben-recommends-header.png

Rhori: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/5b/25/a224d13d47739165c92b94e643db/rhori-recommends-header.png

Lelan: https://ewscripps.brightspotcdn.com/af/54/833bf879454097a398bd44f723de/lelan-recommends.png

Archived Sky 5 video shows Nashville's skyline transformation

Nashville's skyline looks drastically different than when I came to NewsChannel 5 in 1993. A lot of those changes have happened in just the last several years, and the skyline continues to grow. Sky 5 and several viewers have been able to visually document it. I love Austin's look back!

- Lelan Statom