A wife had to watch as her husband shot her boyfriend dead, before turning the gun on himself. Gabriella McDougle’s estranged spouse Jesse shot her boyfriend – who has not been named – before killing himself in Katy, Texas, on Tuesday night.
Jesse McDougle turned up at a house where Gabriella was with her new partner. The two men began arguing, with McDougle then shooting the other man, and himself.
The McDougles’ had four children together, and were said to have grown apart in recent months after Jesse McDougle lost his job due to Covid. McDougle’s Facebook profile lists his relationship status as ‘separated.’
His sister Fashun Smith said afterwards: ‘What he did, it wasn’t right. There is no excuse. He reached his breaking point. It’s not who he is. That final moment in his life is a strange point.’
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‘He didn’t have the strength to handle that kind of heartbreak. He cracked, he cracked.’
Smith told KTRK that she hopes McDougle’s death will serve as a warning to others to reach out to loved ones who are struggling.
Harris County Sheriff’s Office say they are investigating the murder-suicide as a domestic violence incident.
They said similar incidents have become more common as the coronavirus outbreak has put a strain on families across Texas.
A spokesman explained: ‘Whether you want to technically consider this one a domestic violence situation, that’s the kind of situation we have seen so much of this year.’
More than 12.8 million Americans have so-far been infected with Covid, and close to 263,000 have died as a result.
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