HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A woman was charged with murder after authorities said she shot her estranged husband to death at her northwest Harris County home on Sunday.
In her first court appearance, Carolyn Court admitted to having a temper. On Sunday night, deputies say her estranged husband Ray Court went to their Houston home in his girlfriend’s car. Carolyn and Ray had been separated for about a year.
Ray Court owned Gourment Foods of Houston, but friends say he started coming to Beaumont every two weeks in the 90's to sell his products. He has been a homeowner in Groves since 2004 and hasn't lived in Houston since January of 2019.
John Linscomb knew Ray for over 15 years.
“It obviously started off as a business relationship, but it doesn’t take but five minutes with Ray and it becomes a friendship. It didn’t matter if I needed to buy anything. I just bought something from Ray just for the conversation,” Linscomb said.
James McNutt’s relationship with Ray also started as a business one.
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“He was just a good guy, you see on Facebook all the comments. Everybody, everybody liked Ray,” McNutt said.
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Carolyn Court is accused of shooting him during an argument. The two were still legally married at the time but had separated a couple weeks earlier, the sheriff's office said.
She initially told investigators the shooting was an accident, according to Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. She said she pulled out the gun during an argument and it went off.
In court Monday, prosecutors said the suspect admitted to having a bad temper.
Prosecutors said Ray arrived at Carolyn’s home at about 11 a.m. to pick up some personal belongings and go to lunch. Carolyn, however, became “infuriated” that her husband was driving his girlfriend’s vehicle. She allegedly attempted to slap him, and he grabbed her wrist. Ray then went to the bathroom.
While Ray was in the bathroom, Carolyn said she went and got a Smith and Wesson 38 revolver.
She allegedly admitted to cocking the hammer and demanding answers from her husband when he left the bathroom. That’s when the “gun was discharged,” she said.
Ray was taken to an area hospital, where he died.
It didn’t take long for people in Beaumont to react to the news out of Houston. Articles were flooded with comments that spoke volumes about the man Ray was.
“I mean it’s very unusual for somebody to come into this area, that’s not from this area, come in and that many people know him and that many people like him,” McNutt said.
Sheriff Gonzalez said the couple had been married for 42 years. They owned a food catering business called Gourmet Foods of Houston. According to the company's website, Ray started the food business in 1979.
A public defender asked the judge to set bond at $40,000 as the suspect was a longtime business owner with an adult son and no priors. Bond was set at $150,000, however.
She has since bonded out.