LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Family members said a domestic violence victim was begging for help when she was fatally shot outside the Hardin County courthouse.
Two people died on Aug. 19 after 46-year-old Christopher Elder shot his ex-girlfriend and her parents in the courthouse parking lot in an ambush.
"We had fears that some sort of violence would happen," Don Heavrin said.
Pictured: this frame grab taken from video shows police cruisers near the scene of a shooting outside the Hardin County courthouse in Elizabethtown, Ky., in the early morning hours of Aug. 19, 2024. (WDRB image)
Police said Elder's victims had filed an emergency protective order against him in Hardin County Family Court on Aug. 8, and were scheduled to be in court that day to have it extended.
Witnesses told police they saw Elder circling the courthouse until the victims arrived. That's when he opened fire, killing 37-year-old Erica Riley of Elizabethtown, who died at the scene.Â
"I got Erica's voicemail, and I left her a message," said Erica's aunt, Mary Heavrin. "By this time, I was crying because I just knew it was them."
Erica's mother, 71-year-old Janet Riley, of Hardinsburg, was hospitalized after the shooting but died from her injuries. Erica Riley's father was also shot.
"He was sending threatening texts to all of them for no reason, just he had in his head that all of them, since they were part of the family, he was out to get them all," Mary Heavrin said.
Don Heavrin said Erica was bruised, beaten up and had a black eye.
Family members said Erica's sister and brother in-law were there for moral support and believe it could have been worse.
"She parked in the other parking lot across the street, or she would have been one of the casualties because he had already sent threatening texts to Kayla and Jeffrey," Mary Heavrin said.
A vigil is held for Erica Riley and her mother outside the Hardin County Justice Center Tuesday night.
Elder left the scene but later died by suicide while surrounded by police.
"He did a better job of killing my niece and her mother, for all intents and purposes, of shooting up my brother in law, than he did shooting himself," Don Heavrin said. "So, at the end of the day, he was a coward."
Erica left behind a son and daughter who witnessed the shootings so family members are selling T-shirts and having a fundraiser on October 5 at the Breckenridge County Fairgrounds to raise money for the children.
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