A married mom of three from Texas who was shot dead by her estranged husband in a murder-suicide had repeatedly asked police for protection because she feared for her life, but nothing was done to help her, according to her divorce lawyer.
Nityadevi Ramroop, 35, had just returned home from work around 11 p.m. Tuesday when she was ambushed by her husband and gunned down in her own driveway on Upland Springs Trace in Katy, authorities said.
The couple’s children, ages 7, 13 and 16, were all home at the time of the killing, reported the station Fox 26.
The gunman then tried to force his way into the house and stabbed Ramroop’s 25-year-old sister, who survived the attack.
The estranged husband was later found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound more than a mile from the crime scene.
Uchi Ohia, Ramroop’s attorney, told the station ABC13 that she and her husband were just days away from finalizing their divorce, and that she worried about her safety as the court date drew near.
“Her increasing fear was the trial coming up that he would do something to harm her,” Ohia said. “She was being told by his friends that he was saying some very alarming things.”
Ramroop had filed a protective order against her husband a few weeks earlier, but she was concerned that the legal measure may not be enough, according to the lawyer.
In June, she reported to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office that her jilted husband had been following her, but he was not charged.
Instead, Ramroop was advised to contact her attorney, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office told ABC13.
The wife called the police three or four times, but she was told there was nothing they could do to protect her, Ohia said
“They told her on a couple of occasions… since he did not commit a crime, that there was nothing they can actually do to prosecute him,” said the lawyer.
Ohia added that he believes his client, despite showing strength and doing all she could to protect herself, was failed by the system.
