Photo: Limestone County Sheriff’s Office
An Alabama woman whose requests for court-ordered protection from her allegedly abusive ex-husband had been twice denied was killed on Sunday in an apparent murder-suicide, when her former spouse fatally shot her and two others with a high-powered rifle, PEOPLE confirms.
Debra Ann Rivera, 41, of Ardmore, died in the murder-suicide along with husband, Radex Rivera, 41, and their roommate, 59-year-old Timothy James Hayword-Boger, the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
All three victims were found shot to death on the back porch of their house.
Deputies responded to a 911 call on Sunday about 1:44 p.m., after an unidentified woman told dispatchers that Darwin Brazier had sent her a text message saying “he had just killed his ex-wife, her husband and a man named Tim and was going to kill himself,” according to the sheriff’s statement.
“This was an unnecessary and unfortunate escalation of what appears to be a long-term history of domestic violence,” Sheriff Mike Blakely said in the statement.
The shooting was the result of “a bad marriage and a bad custody battle,” said Limestone County Sheriff’s Deputy Stephen Young,The News Courierreports.
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The pair eventually split for good, however, and in December — after a court battle over the children — Limestone County Circuit Court Judge B. Chadwick Wise granted custody of the girls to Rivera.
He gave Brazier visitation rights, theDecatur Dailyreports.
Earlier in 2017, Rivera accused Brazier of stalking her, threatening to take her daughters from her and asking another man to harass her, court records show, according to theNews Courier.
On March 14, 2017, she petitioned the court for a protection of abuse order from Brazier, asking the judge to force her ex-husband to surrender any firearms, the court records state.
Wise denied that petition on March 31, theDecatur Dailyreports.
Nearly a year later, on March 1, Rivera sought a second protection from abuse order after Brazier allegedly followed her and threatened her and her new husband, the court records show, according to theDecatur Daily.
Judge Wise granted the order on a temporary basis, according to theDecatur Daily. But on April 10, he terminated the temporary order and denied her request for a permanent order, according to court records.
The records do not show why Wise ruled against Rivera’s requests,The News Courierreports.
PEOPLE’s calls to Wise for comment were not immediately returned on Thursday.
source: people.com
