Family Says Divorce Led To Domestic Violence Shootings In DeSoto
DESOTO (CBSDFW.COM) - The family of the man accused of shooting his estranged wife and her son said he was in a deep depression and had been seeking counseling over the demise of his marriage.
Wednesday night, Thelma Nicole Rishard was pulling into the garage of her mother's DeSoto home with her two sons in the vehicle when her estranged husband, Richard Richard, sneaked into the garage and opened fire, police said.
"He shot all the way around the car and when he got to her, he put the gun, literally, to the window to shoot at her 5 times and missed at close range, said Emory Howell, Rishard's mother, with whom the family was living.
Bullets grazed Rishard, but her 15-year-old son Corey Dooley, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was shot multiple times, police said.
The attack didn't end there.
"He dove, jumped on the hood of the car, started beating the windshield with the butt of a gun, trying to get in," Howell said. "When she backed out, she swung him off."
Rishard drove to a nearby Walgreen's and called for help. He surrended to police in DeSoto where they found him kneeling on the grass when they arrived.
The couple had filed for divorce in August, court records indicate.
"He's been stalking her for months, I mean ever since she left," Howell said. "The judge ordered no more communication and this man was still contacting her."
Howell said her daughter had filed two protective orders against Richard in DeSoto and Grand Prairie, but could not be put into place into they were signed by a judge.
It's unclear why the documents had not been signed.
Richard's sister, Tina Brown, told CBS 11News her brother was distraught over the impending divorce.
"He had to have just snapped. I've been over here everyday talking with him. He's been going to church, getting counseling," she said. "He's upset and emotionally disturbed about the break up his marriage."
Both families are asking for prayers.
"I'm sorry, you know, that's all i can say," Brown said. "Corey knows I loved him and I can only just say I'm sorry for what my brother did."
Dooley should have been preparing to play in a JV Football game with South Grand Prairie High School, where he was a student.
The game was cancelled.
Richard was charged with 2 counts of aggravated assault with a weapon and 1 count of endangering a child.
No bond has been set.
(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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