Court records describe a welfare check, three bloodied knives and hand wounds police said conflicted with the suspect’s gardening explanation.

VALPARAISO, Ind. — A 32-year-old Indiana woman has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge after deputies conducting a welfare check found her father dead inside his Morgan Township home and investigators later documented physical evidence they say tied the daughter to the scene.

Serena Dolnics is accused of killing her father, Gregory Dolnics, on July 26 at the home where authorities said the two lived. Deputies were sent there after relatives became concerned because they had been unable to reach Gregory. What began as a request to check on his well-being developed into a homicide investigation involving a blood-covered scene, several knives and injuries to Serena Dolnics’ hands. Authorities have not publicly identified a motive. She has denied involvement and entered a not-guilty plea, leaving the allegations to be tested through the criminal court process.

The sequence began shortly before 8 p.m. July 26, according to reports citing Porter County court documents and the sheriff’s office. Family members told authorities they had been trying to contact Gregory Dolnics without success. They also said Serena Dolnics had made what were described in the records as “odd statements” when relatives asked to speak with him. During the 911 call, a friend or boyfriend of Serena Dolnics also contacted relatives and reported seeing her covered in blood, according to accounts of the court filings. That information heightened concern before deputies entered the property.

When officers reached the residence on South 450 East in Morgan Township, near Valparaiso, they looked inside and saw what appeared to be a body. Deputies eventually entered the home and found Gregory Dolnics dead. Reports citing charging documents described numerous sharp-force wounds and a severe injury to his chest. Investigators wrote that an organ believed to be his heart appeared to have been removed and placed on his abdomen. Authorities later classified his death as a homicide caused by multiple sharp-force injuries. The description in the filings was clinical but left little doubt about the seriousness of the scene deputies encountered.

Officers then turned their attention to Serena Dolnics, who was still inside the residence, according to the reports. Accounts of the police response say she was located in a bedroom after officers secured the scene. Some reports said a tactical team was called when she did not immediately come out. When she was taken into custody, police said there was blood on her clothing, legs and feet. Those observations became part of the evidence summarized in court records, but they are allegations in a pending criminal case and have not been established at trial.

Investigators also recovered three knives with blood on them from the living and kitchen areas of the home, according to court documents cited by local and national news organizations. Police documented blood around the residence and reportedly found footprints near Gregory Dolnics’ body. The knives were important not only because of where they were recovered but because investigators later compared them with injuries found on Serena Dolnics’ hands. The public reports do not establish whether laboratory testing has linked particular blood samples or any individual knife to Gregory Dolnics, and no such forensic conclusion should be assumed from the filings alone.

After her detention, Serena Dolnics was taken to a hospital to have injuries to her hands examined. Court documents cited by WTHR and other outlets said the wounds appeared consistent with the type of injury that can occur when a hand slides along the handle or blade of a knife. Investigators noted that blood was also present on the handles of the knives recovered in the home. That assessment is one of the circumstances described by authorities in support of the case, rather than a final finding about exactly how the injuries occurred.

Serena Dolnics offered a different explanation for the wounds. She told investigators that she had injured herself while doing yard or garden work and referred to using a weed whacker or a small saw, according to reports of the court documents. Police wrote that they did not see a garden on the property. The apparent mismatch between her account and what officers observed became one of the most widely reported details of the case. Her statement, however, is only one part of a broader investigation that also includes the condition of the house, the recovered knives, witness communications and the medical examiner’s findings.

During questioning, Serena Dolnics also denied killing her father and said the two generally got along, according to later reports citing the investigative record. She reportedly said she had been watching television and described only occasional disagreements with Gregory. Authorities have not released evidence establishing a reason for the alleged attack, and investigators were still working to determine a possible motive in the initial reporting. The absence of a publicly identified motive does not prevent prosecutors from filing a murder charge, but it leaves a major question about the case unanswered outside court.

The prosecution followed quickly after the welfare check. Jail records show Serena Desiree Dolnics was booked on a murder charge and ordered held without bond. Reports differ on whether Gregory Dolnics was 69 or 70, an inconsistency that appears across coverage of the case. The criminal allegation itself is not in dispute: prosecutors accuse his daughter of causing his death. A murder charge represents an accusation, not proof, and the state will have to establish the elements of the offense if the case proceeds to trial.

Dolnics appeared in court on July 30 and pleaded not guilty, according to multiple reports. That plea formally contests the charge and preserves her right to challenge the government’s evidence. Public reporting since then has continued to describe her as being held without bond. No reliable source reviewed for this article established a conviction or a final resolution of the case, and later coverage has largely repeated information contained in the original charging records rather than reporting a new adjudication.

The case also illustrates how quickly an ordinary welfare call can become the starting point of a criminal investigation. Deputies were not initially dispatched on a report of a confirmed homicide. They were responding to relatives who wanted Gregory Dolnics checked on because they could not reach him. The communications received during that call, the observations made at the house and the evidence recovered after officers entered formed the factual sequence later described in court documents. Investigators then added medical findings and Serena Dolnics’ statements before prosecutors filed the murder charge.

The publicly reviewed reports identify Serena Dolnics as charged with murder, having pleaded not guilty and remaining in custody without bond. Authorities have not publicly announced a motive in the killing, and the available reporting does not establish a later verdict or other final disposition. The evidence described in charging documents remains subject to challenge as the case moves through court.

Author note: Last updated September 9, 2026.