Inset: Tony Wray (Metropolitan Nashville Police Department). Background: The area around The Harris Townhomes in Nashville, Tenn., where Tony Wray allegedly shot his pregnant girlfriend (WSMV).
A Tennessee man is facing criminal homicide and assault charges for allegedly strangling his pregnant girlfriend after she confronted him about text messages he sent to another woman, and for gunning down a cousin of hers who tried to stop the assault, according to police.
Tony Wray, 29, went on his alleged rampage at The Harris Townhomes in Nashville at around 11:57 p.m. on Tuesday, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department reports in a press release.
An arrest affidavit obtained by local NBC affiliate WSMV details how he allegedly choked his girlfriend at his apartment and then threatened to attack anyone who showed up to intervene, even his own mom, cops say.
“I will kill you and my mother,” Wray allegedly told his girlfriend.
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The affidavit notes how she later told cops that Wray had a gun next to his bed and nearby when he allegedly made the threats toward her after she said she would call his mom and ask her to come over. The woman wound up calling another relative, Charqwan Howse, 26, who showed up with a third individual. Wray shot Howse not long after they arrived, according to police.
“The relative, Howse, and a third woman all approached Wray on the front porch of the apartment building where an argument over the alleged assault ensued,” MNPD officials write in the department’s press release. “Wray is accused of shooting Howse without further provocation.”
Authorities say Howse was gunned down in the street and died at the scene. Wray was present when cops arrived and “armed with a handgun,” per police. Officers detained him without incident.
Homicide detectives spoke to witnesses and Wray’s girlfriend, who reported that they had been arguing before the shooting and that he had choked her at least three times after she confronted him about the text messages.
Wray is charged with two counts of aggravated assault involving his girlfriend and an additional count of aggravated assault against a second woman/witness.
