FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas — Daryl Evans' family members are calling for upgraded charges against the woman accused of shooting and killing him earlier this year.
They held a news conference on Monday outside the Fort Bend County Criminal Justice Center. They want the aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge against 75-year-old Barbara Jean Blue upgraded to murder and said the woman had been harassing them ever since they moved into the home 13 years ago.
Blue claimed that it was Daryl who harassed her over the years and he cursed at her and threatened her on the day of the shooting. She said she fired because she feared for her safety.
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An attorney for the Evans family said Blue's history showed that the shooting wasn't in self-defense and called for the charge to be upgraded and also to add a charge to make sure she's held accountable.
Blue made her first court appearance on Monday. She's currently out of jail after posting a $400,000 bond.
The Evans family claims Blue's actions were sanctioned by the neighborhood association, which considered her a watchdog. The family said it plans to file a civil lawsuit against the neighborhood association for their actions.
An attorney who represents the association said he didn't see any intersection between the shooting and the neighborhood group since Blue was not an official board member and the shooting didn't happen on association property.
The shooting
On Thursday, June 27, Tammy Evans said she and her husband, Daryl, had just got home from getting food when Blue was blocking their path to their house along Baybriar Drive, which is in a neighborhood just off the Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road south of W. Fuqua Street in Missouri City.
Moments later, Tammy said, shots rang out and her 66-year-old husband was killed.
Tammy said Blue threatened to shoot her, too, while she was on the phone with dispatchers. Technically, Daryl was still alive when he left his longtime neighborhood.
"They brought him to the hospital but after two surgeries, he died the next morning,” Tammy said.
Tammy and others who live on the street said the shooting followed years of feuding with an across-the-street neighbor -- Blue -- who'd complain about noise and kids playing, among other things.
Tammy said she and Daryl moved to the home 13 years ago and had been constantly harassed by Blue, who she said videotaped their activities and flashed a handgun at them, among other things.