In Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 7, 2016, the life of 29-year-old Starsha Renee Williams, a Black/African American female, was tragically cut short. Williams, a mother of two and a nurse's aide for the Clark County School District, was the victim of a homicide.
On that fateful Monday, Williams had sought and been granted a temporary protective order against her longtime boyfriend, Michael Betterson, also 29.
Despite the legal measure intended to ensure her safety, the order had not yet been served by the end of the business day. The situation escalated in the early evening at their home in the 4000 block of North Browndeer Circle. Following a confrontation, Williams made a call for help to the police around 5:30 p.m. and then hung up. When a dispatcher called back, Betterson answered and also hung up.
In the short time that followed, both Williams and Betterson contacted family members. As police were en route, treating the escalating situation as a potential hostage scenario, Betterson shot and killed Williams. After exiting the house and speaking with relatives who had arrived, he went back inside and took his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Clark County coroner's office later confirmed that Williams died from multiple gunshot wounds in what was ruled a homicide, while Betterson's death was ruled a suicide.
