Justifiable homicide? Man shot by ex-wife’s boyfriend during furious child custody fight outside home

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An aggrieved ex-husband was shot dead by his ex-wife’s boyfriend during a Nov. 5th confrontation outside the ex-wife’s home in South Lubbock, Texas, that his widow now claims was part of a “conspiracy to assault and/or murder” him.

Chad Read, 54, showed up at the home that day and began yelling at his ex-wife, Christina Read, about “not having one of the former couple’s sons available at a court-ordered time,” according to the Lubbocko Avalanche-Journal.

“During the argument, Christina could be heard saying the child was not home and that she was going to fetch him. She also said that she didn’t abide by the court-ordered deadline because she wanted to see their son,” the station reported Friday.

“I don’t care if you wanted to see him or not. I get him at 3:15 p.m. If you want to see him, you see him up until 3:15,” Read responded.

Some of the altercation was captured on video by Read’s current wife, Jennifer Read, who according to reports is convinced her husband’s fatal shooting was purposeful.

Watch (*Extremely graphic content):

The video above was reportedly released by Jennifer’s attorney.

“You keep trying to keep my son from me, I’m going to drag you, and Ann-Marie, and everybody else into court,” Read added.

“Ann-Marie” was a reference to Judge Ann-Marie Carruth, a woman who the media have described as Carruth’s ex-wife, but who Jennifer has claimed is his current wife, which would mean his relationship with Christina is an affair.

At this point, Christina’s boyfriend, Kyle Carruth, emerged from the house armed with a rifle and yelled at Read to leave, prompting Read to step up to his face and yell back, “Do it! You better [PROFANITY] use it, [PROFANITY]!”

“The two continue arguing. Jennifer Read, who is filming the altercation from a vehicle, tells someone off-camera to call the police. Carruth is seen firing a shot on the ground at Read’s feet,” according to the Avalanche-Journal.

“Read places his hand on the gun, propelling Carruth away from him. Carruth then spins around and fires twice at Read, who could be heard saying, ‘think I’m [PROFANITY] scared?'”

Read immediately collapsed to the ground, where he was found dead by the authorities a short time later.

Below is another video of the altercation. It was released by Carruth’s lawyer, David Guinn, on the grounds that it boosts his client’s claim of self-defense:

“When a trespassing Chad Read advanced on Mr. Carruth, who was standing within feet of the front door of his home and office, employees there, Mr. Read said I’ll take your gun and effing kill you with it and then tried to. It was then and only then did that gun get pointed at Mr. Read at the fatal moment,” Guinn said to Lubbock news station KCBD.

“Mr. Read had every opportunity to leave, to try to deescalate the situation. He was threatening to others. Police had been called and he knew that, Mr. Carruth came out the door, the gun pointed in the air and told him to leave. Most people would have,” he added.

This story has gone viral nearly a month after the fatal shooting occurred because of the various claims and allegations swirling around the case.

Some of the claims have been supplied by a woman on TikTok who purports to be Jennifer’s daughter-in-law:

The alleged daughter-in-law has accused the police of perpetrating a “huge cover-up.” Jennifer meanwhile has alleged that the shooting was done on purpose.

“I believe that Christina Read and Kyle Carruth engaged in a conspiracy to assault and/or murder Chad that day,” she said through an affidavit filed by her attorney this week.

The affidavit also contained allegations about the alleged affair between Carruth and Christina.

“Christina Read and Kyle Carruth have been engaged in an ongoing affair, despite Kyle Carruth being married. On October 30, 2021, Chad Read informed Christina Read that he had evidence of her affair with Kyle Carruth and that he was going to go public with it,” the affidavit reportedly read.

But according to the Avalanche-Journal, the couple separated in July, and Carruth subsequently filed for divorce in September, two months before the shooting. The divorce wasn’t finalized until two weeks after the shooting.

“On November 5, 2021, after 4:00 p.m., myself and my minor son were physically present when Chad Read met with Christina Read at Kyle Carruth’s residence at 2100 90th St, Lubbock, Texas. We were there to pick up Chad’s youngest son. Chad was supposed to have custody of the child beginning at 3:15pm, but Christina stated that, she ‘wanted to see him’ as her excuse to why she had not produced the child as ordered by the court at the time required,” the affidavit continued.

Jennifer further noted in the affidavit that prior to Carruth coming outside with a gun, her husband “Chad had not threatened any force, or used any force, against Kyle or Christina that would justify Kyle pulling a firearm on Chad. During this entire interaction, Chad Read was completely unarmed.”

And she added that Christina “was calm and didn’t act surprised” after the shooting. But in fairness, neither did she — which is something several social media users have pointed out:

As of Friday, nobody had been charged, but the Texas Attorney General’s Office was reportedly looking into the case.

Meanwhile, social media users were debating whether Carruth’s actions amounted to self-defense or not.

Vivek Saxena

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