A nine-year-old girl called her grandmother just moments before her stepfather killed her mother right in front of her as she looked on in horror.
Thomas Wilson Alexander, 32, has been arrested and charged with murder after his wife Jasmine McHenry, 29, a mother of two, was found shot dead in Houston, in the US state of Texas, on Sunday, 11th June, according to the Houston Police Department.
Police officers responded to a report of a shooting at around 8pm and found the woman suffering from a gunshot wound, with medics pronouncing her dead at the scene.
Court documents revealed that the suspect allegedly shot Jasmine in front of her nine-year-old daughter, who has not been named.
The young girl said that her mother told her to call her grandmother, with Jasmine then telling her mother that the suspect had pulled out a gun, according to local media.
Jasmine’s mother, who has been named as Cynthia Demerson, said: “She said he was going to shoot her. That’s when I got in the vehicle and went over there.”
By the time Cynthia got to the apartment, her daughter was dead.
Cynthia’s granddaughter later told local media: “I told the police, ‘My stepdad shot my mom’.”
Newsflash obtained a statement from the City of Houston, saying: “Charges have been filed against a suspect arrested in the fatal shooting of a woman that occurred at 2020 Bentworth Drive about 7:55 p.m. on Sunday (June 11).
“The suspect, Thomas Wilson Alexander, 32, is charged with murder in the 351st State District Court.” (sic)
The statement also said: “HPD patrol officers responded to a shooting call at an apartment complex at the above address. They found the victim inside her apartment, suffering from a gunshot wound. Houston Fire Department paramedics pronounced her deceased at the scene.
“Subsequent investigation identified Alexander, the victim’s common-law husband, as the suspect in this incident. He was subsequently arrested and charged for his role in the shooting.” (sic)
McHenry is also survived by an unnamed three-year-old son.
A fundraiser on GoFundMe had notched up nearly USD 3,600 (GBP 2,840) out of a USD 10,000 (GBP 7,880) goal to cover McHenry’s funeral expenses, describing her as a “beautiful, bright, vibrant, hardworking young mother”.
Alexander is being held on a USD 1 million (GBP 790,000) bond.
