A Katy, Texas mother was killed last week allegedly at the hands of her husband, who authorities say fatally shot her and opened fire on two of her children. 

Valerie Junius was planning to leave Lawrence Reed, who has been charged with her murder, according to Harris County Sheriffs. The mother of six was slain on July 29 and found inside her home. 

Texas mother of six Valerie Junius (above) was shot dead last month in Katy, reportedly by the abusive husband she was planning to leave, authorities say. (ABC 13)

Deputies responding to the shooting found Reed barricaded inside, and he later surrendered to SWAT. According to a report from People magazine, the couple had been engaged in an ongoing domestic disturbance, and she had been in Chicago for a month with relatives. 

“My Auntie, Gloria, was on the phone with her daughter, Valerie, while she could overhear her husband, Lawrence Reed, telling Valerie that he was going to kill her and her kids,” the organizer of a GoFundMe fundraiser writes. “Gloria then had the horrific experience of having to hear Lawrence shoot her daughter Valerie a total of 7 times, ultimately taking her life.”

The page was set up to raise $50,000 for homegoing services and support for Junius’ mother, who is left to raise her six grandchildren. 

“Please pray for Valerie in heaven, her children left here on Earth, along with her mother, Gloria,” the GoFundMe page concludes. 

According to reports, Reed shot at Junius’ 16-year-old son and 20-year-old daughter as they tried to flee and run out of the house. They were both wounded with non-life-threatening injuries. 

Local reporting notes that Junius was planning to leave her husband. She had only returned home to Texas to retrieve personal belongings.

“She didn’t know she was walking into this,” said her cousin, Treshawnda Junius.

“He knew it was over when she stayed in Chicago for as long as she stayed,” she said. “He knew it was over. He killed her. He didn’t give her a chance.”

Harris County Sheriff’s have reported an uptick in domestic violence and fatal domestic shootings in 2021. 

“It’s alarming. It’s disturbing,” said Barbie Brashear, executive director of the Harris County Domestic Violence Coordinating Council. “It matches what we are hearing nationally, that domestic violence is on the rise.”

Treshawnda Junius can only offer advice in the wake of her cousin’s tragedy, saying, “If you have family that are unhappy in relationships, I urge you to stand by them. I wish I called my cousin. I wish I called her.”

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