Deputy Held After Ex-Wife Is Shot to Death on Way to File Complaint

A woman was shot to death Monday as she approached a county courthouse, and her former husband, a sheriff’s deputy, was arrested, authorities said.

The victim was on her way to an appointment with Jefferson County sheriff’s officials to complain that her former husband was harassing her, Justice of the Peace Vi McGinnis said.

Kathy Lee Redeau Smith, who would have turned 34 today, was shot four to six times as she walked toward the courthouse’s main entrance shortly before 4 p.m. Monday, Beaumont police officer Billy Blankenship said.

McGinnis said that the uniformed deputy encountered Smith, who was with her mother and other family members. The judge said the deputy and the woman exchanged words and then he shot her. She died soon afterward at a hospital.

Blankenship said the deputy, whose name was not released, surrendered immediately. The deputy was ordered held at the county jail in lieu of $50,000 bond. He was not expected to be formally charged until today, Blankenship said.