A mother of three was killed by her boyfriend in an apparent murder-suicide shortly after she dropped two of her three children off at school in Georgia.
Nicole Karastury Elliott was shot in the head outside of her home on Monday, August 17, after a dispute with her boyfriend, Andrew Roy Harris.
One day later, Harris, 36, was found dead in a room at a Days Inn hotel in Phenix City.
Harris County Sheriff Mike Jolley said during a press conference on Tuesday, August 18, that Harris shot Elliott, 35, after they got into a fight over prescription medication that belonged to one of her children.
“We heard the voices on the Ring camera where she had yelled, ‘Don’t do it,’” Jolley said. “We heard the gunfire. And then we heard her call his name out. ‘Don’t, don’t do it,’ and called his name out on the Ring camera.”
Jolley also said that Elliott’s children were informed about her death by members of law enforcement.
“To make that notification yesterday to those three kids that their mother is no longer with us was heart-wrenching,” Jolley said. “It’s never an easy thing to do, but when you tell three young kids that their mother is no longer here it’s heartbreaking.”
A GoFundMe page has since been set up to help Elliott’s kids financially following her death. The page explained that her children were 14, 10 and 6 years old.
Fundraiser organizer Jarrod Thorne said that the kids “are facing an unimaginable loss after their mother was tragically killed in a domestic dispute.”
“Nicole had taken her boys to school that morning, and soon after, her children’s lives were changed forever. They were taken from school and told that their mother was gone,” Thorne wrote. “Nicole was an amazing woman, mother, and friend with a huge heart who was always willing to help anyone in need. Her family is now left trying to process this heartbreaking tragedy and make sense of a loss that feels impossible to understand.”
Thorne added that Elliott and her kids had moved into a new house right before she was killed. “The children were so excited to finally have rooms of their own. Now, in the middle of grief and shock, they are also facing the many practical needs that come with losing their mother,” Thorne continued.
The donations raised will help “cover funeral and memorial expenses,” as well as will “provide support for the children’s everyday needs as they adjust to life without Nicole.”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
