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Texas Mom Allegedly Killed By Estranged Husband Shortly After She Told Him They Were Through
“As soon as he found out that she was trying to leave him, he went AWOL,” Elizabeth Garner Vance’s sister said of her sibling’s estranged husband, Austin Vance.
A Texas mother tried to end a relationship with her husband weeks before he allegedly murdered her, the woman’s family said.
Elizabeth Garner Vance, 29, expressed the desire to leave her estranged husband Austin Vance, shortly before he allegedly took her life, according to relatives.
"About a week ago, she told him she was done and wanted to leave him,” Kelsey Roush, the woman’s sister, told KTRK-TV. “As soon as he found out that she was trying to leave him, he went AWOL.
On Sept. 3, Austin Vance, 28, turned himself into Montgomery Sheriff’s Office in Conroe, KHOU reported. He allegedly confessed to fatally shooting his wife at a home in Willis and was booked into a county jailhouse the same day. He’s since been charged with Elizabeth's murder.
The couple had divorced in 2014 but later resumed their relationship in 2018, Elizabeth's sister said.
Roush described her sister as a “damn good mother” and “hard worker." She would have celebrated her 30th birthday this month, her family said.
“[She] would do anything for anybody,” her sister said. “She'd give you the shirt off her back. I pray to God we can get something started for domestic violence in her name."
The young mother leaves behind a 6-year-old son. The family has launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to aid in covering life celebration expenses.
Often in abusive relationships, when the victimized individual tries to formulate an exit plan, they are at peak risk, according to some domestic violence experts.
"When a person is finally at the point where they are ready to say enough is enough, that is, in fact, when they are most in danger," Emilee Dawn Whitehurst, who heads the Houston Area Women’s Center, told KTRK-TV. "What they may not know, what I want them to know, is there are a lot of resources available to people who are leaving domestic violence situations."
Austin Vance is being held on a $500,000 bail, according to online jail records.
