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A Texas man has been arrested and charged after he allegedly shot and killed his common-law wife as her 9-year-old daughter watched in horror, authorities reportedly said.
Officers responded to a report of a shooting at an apartment complex in Houston just before 8 p.m. Sunday, according to a press release from the Houston Police Department.
Once inside, they found a 29-year-old woman suffering from an apparent gunshot wound, police said. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.
KTRK-TV has identified the victim as Jasmine McHenry, citing relatives and court records.
The woman’s romantic partner, Thomas Wilson Alexander, 32, was later identified as a suspect and charged with murder for his alleged role in the fatal shooting, police said.
Citing court documents, KTRK-TV reports that Alexander allegedly shot and killed McHenry in front of the woman’s 9-year-old daughter.
As the violence unfolded, the girl says McHenry instructed her to call her grandmother and McHenry informed her mother over the phone that Alexander had allegedly pulled out a gun, according to the news outlet.
"She said he was going to shoot her. That's when I got in the vehicle and went over there," McHenry's mother, Cynthia Demerson, told KTRK-TV.
But by the time the girl’s grandmother got to the apartment, it was too late.
"I told the police, ‘My stepdad shot my mom,’” McHenry’s daughter told KTRK-TV.
According to a GoFundMe page launched to offset costs for McHenry’s funeral, she is also survived by a 3-year-old son.
“Jasmine McHenry was a beautiful, bright, vibrant , hardworking, young mother of [two],” the fundraiser reads.
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“She loved her family,” the page continues. “She did not deserve to die like this.”
Harris County Jail records show Alexander was booked into the facility on June 12 and is being held on $1 million bond. He is expected back in court on June 14.
It’s unclear if he has entered a plea or retained an attorney to comment on his behalf.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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