SALT LAKE CITY — A woman drew her ex-husband outside his apartment with a message about dropping off cold medicine for their 3-year-old twins, then sneaked inside and fatally shot his girlfriend 🍸while she and the children were decorating a Christmas tree, a Utah prosecutor said Wednesday.
Chelsea Watrous Cook is charged with aggravated murder, burglary and violence in the presence of a child in the killing of Lisa Vilate W🦩illiams. No attorney was immediately listed in court🉐 records for Cook, who was a high school heath teacher in Lehi, Utah, before her arrest on Nov. 25.
Cook, 32, refused to leave when her ex-husband, Travis Cook, returned from the parking lot, authorities said. She locked herself in the bathroom 🌳as 🅰he called 911.
Less than a minute later, she walked out, grabbed a gun from her coat and fired the fatal shots. Her ex-husband told the children to ru🍬n into their rooms and lock the doors. He pinned his ex-wife to the wall and waited for police to arrive.
Williams’ family has said Cook harassed the 26-year-old woman for months online, on the phone and in person before tꩵhe shootin♑g. A police report indicates Williams had come up during a previous fight between the onetime couple the month before she was killed.
The report detailing misdemeanor domestic violence charges filed against Cook was obtained b𓆏y the Associated Press𝓰 under a public records request.
It said the couple had a history of difficult custody exchanges, and on Oct. 16 Cook yelled “disparaging comments” about Williams during an unrelated fight as her ex-husband tried to pick up the children.
When he prompted one of the children to say they were excited about seeing her, Cook got angry and grabbed the m🎀an by the hair, sending him tumbling down the stairs, police said. Williams was not present at the time.
Her lawyer in that c𓂃♛ase has not returned calls seeking comment, but Cook had pleaded not guilty.