Courtney Renee Hooper (WOAI/YouTube).
A Texas woman allegedly killed her boyfriend with a gunshot wound to the chest on Christmas Eve morning following an argument over a car and cellphone.
Courtney Renee Hooper, 36, is facing a murder charge in the death of her 42-year-old boyfriend who has not been publicly identified, according to the Bexar County Sheriff”s Office.
Sheriff Javier Salazar told reporters at a press conference that deputies responded around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday to the 100 block of Mallow Grove in San Antonio for a shooting. When they arrived they found a man suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest. Paramedics attempted to save his life but he was pronounced dead.
Investigators took Hooper into custody a short time later.
The shooting stemmed from an argument about a car and a cellphone that escalated, according to law enforcement. Local TV cameras captured Hooper as she was being taken to jail. Asked if she had anything to say in her defense, she claimed she was “protecting” herself.
“Notably, she provided us with a video that she felt would exonerate her,” Salazar said. “But in reality, after watching that video, it just seemed like that made her seem even more guilty…It’s a pretty clear-cut case at this point.”
Salazar said there is an “extensive” history of prior domestic-related calls at the address, though most of them involved men other than the victim.
The sheriff noted his office sees an increase of domestic violence-related homicides and other crimes around the holidays.
“Just want to use it as a reminder once again, that domestic violence doesn’t just go away. It doesn’t stop happening on its own. It doesn’t go away if you ignore it,” he said. “It’s one of those crimes that continues to escalate. And unless some sort of external factor happens, a breakup, you separate yourself from that situation, it keeps escalating to the point where somebody is going to die.”
Hooper is detained at the Bexar County Jail without bond. She has a court hearing scheduled for March 24.
