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Inset: Shanika Battle (Dallas County Jail). Background: The residential area near where Battle is alleged to have shot and killed her adult daughter in Dallas, Tex. (Google Maps).
A domestic dispute in Texas turned deadly when a woman fatally shot her daughter during a heated argument over an alcoholic drink, according to local authorities.
Shanika Battle, 49, has been charged with murder, as confirmed by records from the Dallas County court. The tragic event unfolded on a Monday afternoon at a home on Green Cove Lane in southwest Dallas, resulting in the death of 28-year-old Tabatha Jones, reported the Dallas Police Department.
Police officers were dispatched to the scene shortly before 4 p.m. following reports of gunfire. According to an initial police statement, the two individuals involved in the incident were confirmed to be related.
Despite her injuries, the victim was able to call 911, reportedly informing the dispatcher that her mother had shot her in the side. This detail is substantiated by an arrest affidavit accessed by local media outlets, including Dallas-based Fox affiliate KDFW and ABC affiliate WFAA.
The victim herself is said to have called 911 and told dispatch that her own mother shot her in the side, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Dallas-based Fox affiliate KDFW and ABC affiliate WFAA.
Authorities arrived within minutes due to already being on a call roughly a block away from the scene of the crime, police said. Responding officers found Jones on her bed in her room suffering from a gunshot wound, according to the affidavit.
The younger woman was taken to a nearby hospital where she eventually succumbed to her injuries, according to law enforcement.
Both women were in the residence — and were the only people there — when police arrived, the affidavit says. After obtaining a search warrant, investigators found a pistol in the living room near the older woman”s purse along with a .380-caliber fired cartridge casing in the hallway outside the victim’s bedroom, police said.
In a subsequent interview, Battle allegedly told investigators her daughter was upset because she had taken her daughter’s alcohol.
The mother went on to say Jones then began “going into rooms that aren’t hers,” the affidavit says. This purported behavior led to an argument between mother and daughter, police said.
There is some dispute over whether the argument ever became physical. However, the defendant allegedly did admit to owning the gun found at the residence, police said. Battle also allegedly said she removed the gun from her purse in an effort to “scare” her daughter — but was adamant she did not shoot her, according to the affidavit.
The defendant is being detained in the Dallas County Jail with no bond.