Charles Haeger had a pretty unremarkable baseball career. In six years, he played for three different teams, regularly moving from the minor leagues to the majors. His pitching was erratic, with good games followed by early exits from the mound after a shelling. He called it a career in 2010 with a 2-7 record, but remained hopeful as he continued to bounce around the minor leagues. Eventually he became a pitching coach for Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan. He worked as a pitching coordinator in Tampa’s farm system and planned to coach for the Cubs’ AA team when the 2020 season was sidelined due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday October 2, 2020, police were called to the Scottsdale, Arizona apartment where Danielle Breed lived with a roommate. Her roommate heard gunshots and witnessed Charles coming out of Breed’s room holding a handgun. He pointed the gun at the roommate before quickly exiting the apartment. Officers discovered Breed had been shot to death. An interview with Breed’s mother revealed that her daughter was planning on getting a restraining order against Charles because of recent harassment.
Scottsdale authorities issued a warning regarding Charles, saying that he was to be considered armed and dangerous. On Saturday morning, October 3, police found Charles’ minivan over 100 miles away in Flagstaff. Later in the afternoon, Charles was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot along a trail at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. He was 37 years old.