Inset photos: Gregory Chapman and Tomika Chapman (Screenshots from NBC New Orleans affiliate WDSU)
A man allegedly shot and killed his wife and then confessed to police, reportedly telling officers he shot her after she told him, “You’re going to die today.”
Gregory Chapman, 57, was jailed on second-degree murder charges in the death of his wife, Tomika Chapman, 47. His bond hearing this week was rescheduled because he was on suicide watch and could not attend the court hearing, online court docket information shows. His bail was set at $750,000. His next court hearing showed a listing for Nov. 8.
An email sent on Sunday to the public defender’s office seeking comment was not immediately returned.
The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported his defense attorney said in a court hearing this week he grappled with mental illness and “back and forth between him and his wife.”
She was shot in her car in front of her home on Tuesday, police said. Her husband confessed that evening, and the couple’s 4-year-old daughter was brought home from school by her aunt when their parents didn’t pick her up to discover the bloodshed, according to the newspaper.
Chapman allegedly told police he got out of his car and began firing into his wife’s vehicle when she came outside and yelled at him, local CBS affiliate WWL-TV reported.
The victim’s friend Debra Barbain-Johnson, who lives on the same street, told local NBC affiliate WDSU she heard gunfire, saw Gregory Chapman pacing in the driveway and heard Chapman’s sister and young daughter scream.
“I just ran. I ran up the street,” Barbain-Johnson told the station. “From there, it was just chaos. She was sitting in the car — one foot out. The keys were in the car. She was just sitting in the car. I tried to see what was wrong. I did not even realize she had been shot.”
Tomika Chapman had recently filed a restraining order against her husband, Barbain-Johnson told the station.
“I wish I could have done something to prevent it,” she said. “I wonder if I missed anything.”
The killing came after a list of domestic abuse accusations for the couple reportedly together for 30 years. He filed for divorce at least twice, according to the Times-Picayune, citing court records. The wife had a two-week restraining order against him in January, alleging abuse and threats against her and their 4-year-old daughter, the paper reported.
In a protection order in October 2019 — that she ultimately canceled — she wrote that he beat her when she called the police, the newspaper reported.
“He beat me in my head to where I have been having headaches,” she wrote. “I am afraid for my and my child’s life.”
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