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.

My friend and colleague Carrie Sharp had a lot of fun last week, on an adventure to a country more than three thousand miles away! She’s back now – sharing her Adventures in Iceland through stories, and incredible images of this remarkably beautiful and unique island nation (kudos to Chief Photographer Catherine Steward)! But did you know Nashville has something very important in common with Iceland? Tourism! Here, Carrie explains how a volcanic eruption decades ago helped save the country’s economy from collapse!
-Rhori Johnston