Divorcing DeSoto Couple Dead in Apparent Murder-Suicide

Woman received restraining order against husband in Oct., 2012

DeSoto police say a man shot and killed his ex-wife and himself on the same day their divorce was finalized.

On Wednesday, DeSoto police said 40-year-old Andre Murphy, a former police officer with the Cedar Hill Independent School District, arrived at his ex-wife Catina's home Tuesday and kicked in the front door as she pleaded with 911 officers to send help fast.

Police said the man then ran upstairs and shot the 37-year-old woman several times before apparently turning the gun on himself.

When officers arrived they found the bodies of the couple inside the home on the 700 block of Timber Trail.  While police are calling the incident a murder-suicide, it'll be up to the Dallas County medical examiner to officially declare Andre Murphy's death a suicide.

As the investigation unfolded, police learned that the couple's divorce had been finalized that day and the man went to the home a short time afterward.

Police said the couple have a 7-year-old daughter who was not at home at the time of the shootings. Jermaine Pearson, a cousin of Andre Murphy, said the couple's daughter is now staying with other family members.
 
“She's going to be fine," Pearson said. "She has a very great support group. Not only her grandmother, her family in Lancaster, it's a huge family, and we all love the child as we love the parents."
 
Andre Murphy was a former police officer for the Cedar Hill Independent School District. He had worked as a police officer for the district for four years before being laid off in 2012 during a reorganization of the department, the district said.

DeSoto police initially said they had not been called to that address for any domestic violence-related calls, but said Wednesday that they were called once in September after Catina Murphy claimed her husband pushed her. Andre Murphy was issued a ticket that was later dismissed. The divorce decree indicated that Catina got a temporary restraining order against her husband in Oct., 2012.

NBC 5's Randy McIlwain contributed to this report.

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