19-Year-Old Accused Of Killing Child's Father Says She Feared For Her Life After He Threatened Her Family
He allegedly assaulted her days earlier.
Colorado Springs Police Department / Leonard Zhukovsky / Shutterstock A 19-year-old woman accused of killing her child’s father said that she was feared he would kill her and her family, according to an affidavit.
Raquel Chamberlain has been charged with first-degree murder for the shooting of Tryvone Brooks, 24, on March 22 at a home near Patty Jewett Golf Course in Colorado Springs.
Raquel Chamberlain claims Tryvone Brooks made numerous threats against her before she killed him.
The affidavit describes Brooks and Chamberlain’s relationship as abusive and states that the former couple was having frequent arguments over their child.
Two days before the shooting, Brooks allegedly assaulted Chamberlain, her mother, and a friend while they were collecting her child from his home.
The incident was reported to police at the time and Chamberlain's mother claims she moved the family out of her home and into a hotel afterward because she feared Brooks would find them and hurt them.
Raquel Chamberlain admitted to shooting Tryvone Brooks in an argument.
On March 22 at 9:30 a.m, police responded to a shooting on the 1200 block of East Columbia Street.
Brooks was found dead on the couch with multiple gunshot wounds.
Chamberlain was arrested four days later but maintains that she did not know Brooks had died until it was reported.
Chamberlain, after initially denying her involvement, later admitted that a friend had driven her to the home where she went inside, argued with Brooks, and subsequently shot him.
Brooks’ cousin awoke at 2 a.m. to gunshots inside his home, the affidavit describes.
He told detectives that he saw, through a window, someone walking on a nearby sidewalk but "it did not look suspicious."
The living room was dark so he presumed Brooks was asleep and did not check on him until later.
At this point, he found Brooks sitting in his blood and called 911.
Brooks allegedly threatened Chamberlain and her mother.
Chamberlain told detectives that while she was at the hotel, Brooks contacted her "dozens of times" through his cousin's phone and made death threats, the affidavit states.
The affidavit also states that, before his death, Brooks had left a voicemail on her mother's phone saying "he would kidnap and possibly harm her.”
The document alleges that Chamberlain and her family was so scared of Brooks that her mother brought a gun with her to the hotel "in case (he) found them."
Chamberlain told police that "she acted alone and that no one else was involved in the murder," the affidavit states.
Alice Kelly is a senior news and entertainment editor for YourTango. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, her work covers all things social justice, pop culture, and human interest. Keep up with her Twitter for more.