Woman With 'History Of Domestic Abuse' Kills Husband Before Children At Walmart

A woman was charged with murder for fatally shooting her husband in front of their three children at a Louisiana Walmart on Saturday.

Kayla Coutee, 31, arranged to meet her estranged husband Thomas Coutee Jr outside the local store for a child custody exchange. As the three children sat in her car, she shot him once in the chest. Police reached the scene after receiving reports of shooting at the location. Upon arriving, police saw people already attempting to revive the victim via CPR. However, the man was pronounced dead a while later.

Police said the incident took in the outer section of the parking lot, with few other cars around. Kayla was arrested at the scene and transported to Alexandria Police Department (APD) headquarters for questioning,

The children were also taken to APD headquarters, where the Department of Children and Family Services were contacted to make arrangements for their care. The children were later released to the custody of family members, local daily WDBJ 7 reported.

The woman was charged with second-degree murder and booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center on $500,000 bond.

“The victim was identified as Coutee’s husband, whom she was meeting to exchange custody. There were three children present at the time of the shooting. None were injured," police said.

On Aug. 28, the victim’s lawyer had filed a motion for a new trial to decide who has custody of their daughter. He died on his daughter’s birthday.

In a ruling on Aug. 20, he claimed that granting joint custody for the daughter should be avoided as Coutee had a “history of domestic abuse” toward him. The motion also stated that state law creates a presumption "that no parent who has a history of perpetuating family violence shall be awarded sole or joint custody of the children." However, his initial petition for a divorce did not mention any alleged abuse and sought joint custody, Daily Mail reported.

The couple had married on Oct. 24, 2014 and separated in February this year. A matrimonial agreement was filed in May which laid out how the parties handled their assets. In the same month, the man filed a complaint stating that she had slapped him while "they were exchanging custody of their kids." He told the police he had leaned into the car to give the kids a last hug before going to work when she slapped him on the left side of his face, The Town Talk reported.

According to the police report, he produced a photo which showed "redness on the left side of his jaw line below his left ear.” He also produced a screenshot of a text that Giles allegedly sent to a mutual friend that read she'd "knocked the s--- out of Thomas. It felt good tho."

The investigation into the shooting is on.