Mom Was Recording A TikTok When Her 'Toxic' Ex Allegedly Shot And Killed Her

A mother of three was allegedly shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend Saturday morning while she was recording a TikTok video with her friend.

Joshua K. Thompson, 25, was arrested and accused of fatally shooting Kaitlyn Lee, also 25, who heard him banging on the window with a handgun while she was in the kitchen of an apartment in New Albany, Indiana, the Lexington Herald-Leader  and WDRB-TV  in Louisville, Kentucky, reported, citing a probable cause affidavit. 

The TikTok video, reviewed by police in New Albany, a Louisville suburb, showed Lee and her friend laughing, dancing and lip-syncing to a song before a blast can be heard, the affidavit said. Police said smoke could be seen in the video before it ended. 

Lees friend told police that Lee asked Thompson, What are you doing here? before he fired through the window, according to the affidavit. 

A neighbor who witnessed the shooting told WDRB that she heard a man screaming before police ran into the apartment. 

My dad and her grandpa are really good friends. Its such a tragedy to witness all of this, the neighbor told the TV station.

Police said in the affidavit that Thompson called his brother immediately after the shooting and was advised to call 911. Thompson allegedly told dispatchers he shot the mother of his child, the Herald-Leader reported.

During his interview with authorities, Thompson said he went to the apartment that morning to see if Lee had other men over and waited outside for 20 to 30 minutes before looking through the window.

Lees friend told police that Lee and Thompson had been in a toxic relationship, according to the warrant. She then reportedly told officers that Lee once stated, If she was ever found dead, Joshua killed her, the Herald-Leader reported.

Court records reviewed by HuffPost revealed Thompson had been arrested in April and charged with domestic battery committed in the presence of a child. He was served an order of protection last week and is scheduled for a pretrial hearing in September. 

Thompson is now also charged with murder, criminal recklessness, invasion of privacy and unlawful carrying of a handgun, according to court records .

Lees cousin, Jannette Roberts, said in a GoFundMe appeal launched to offset funeral arrangements that Lee didnt deserve what happened to her.

I will never be able to wrap my head around how or why someone could do something so inhumane, Roberts wrote. Because of someones selfish actions her 3 beautiful babies now have to grow up without a mother.

The New Albany Police Department and Floyd County prosecutors did not immediately respond to HuffPosts request for comment. 

Pamela Greenwell, Lees aunt, told WDRB after a court hearing on Monday that Lee had been staying with a friend at the time of the shooting and there were several children also inside the apartment. Greenwell said Lee had to hop from place to place to be able to stay away from him. 

An average of 24 people per minute are victims of sexual assault, physical violence or stalking by an intimate partner in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cited by the National Domestic Violence Hotline . The study also found that 66.2% of women pursued by stalkers were stalked by current or former intimate partners.

Thompson has entered a preliminary plea of not guilty in the murder case. Court records did not list an attorney representing him. 

Need help? In the U.S., call 1-866-331-9474 or text loveis to 22522 for the National Dating Abuse Helpline .

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that New Albany was a suburb of Lexington, Kentucky. It is a suburb of Louisville.