HOUSTON — A 51-year-old woman went before a judge Monday morning after being arrested over the weekend in a love-triangle murder that centered around a Spring man and three women.
Karin Tricia Stewart is charged with murder in the shooting death of James Hargrove. A judge set her bond at $75,000.
The Harris County District Office said Stewart had been in a relationship with Hargrove for seven years and that they lived together off and on.
When he told her that he was in love with another woman early Saturday, Stewart shot him multiple times, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
She confessed to the murder, according to court records.
The other woman
Court records say the other woman was with Hargrove when the shooting happened in the 23600 block of Buttress Root Drive.
She ran from the home during the shooting and wasn’t injured. She told deputies she heard several more shots as she ran away.
The 41-year-old woman told deputies she thought Stewart and Hargrove were in an open relationship and that he wanted to introduce the two of them.
The wife
To make things even more complicated, Hargrave was apparently still married to a third woman.
“He’s still my husband," Sandra Hargrove said. She said they'd been married since 2009 before they separated in November.
“We have grandkids, we have kids. We have nieces and nephews. But he’s still my husband,” Hargrove said.
Hargrove said they chatted every other day and had even talked about getting back together.
"But I had no idea about any of this,” she said.
She says she can’t wrap her mind around what happened.
She said her husband just recovered from a lengthy battle with COVID-19 and was in a coma for four months. He was paralyzed for a year and had just started walking again.
“He had two heart attacks, a stroke, his kidneys were failing. He had just recovered from all of that. So for him to make it through all of that, to end like this," Sandra told KHOU 11.
What's next?
Stewart remains in custody at this time. She requested that if she was released, she would like to live with relatives in Louisiana.
The judge wants additional information before ruling on the request. Her bond conditions would include a GPS ankle monitor and urinalysis/drug screening.