A Texas woman that survived her husband trying to kill her in an attempted murder suicide says she forgives her now deceased husband.
Rachel Butler, 26 and Jason Butler, 39, were on the verge of divorce when they went out Saturday night to his high 20-year school reunion. After getting into an argument on the way home Jason pulled his gun out of his truck and shot her in the chest in their Montgomery area driveway. He then shot himself in the head.
Rachel was discharged from the intensive-care unit at Conroe Regional Medical Center Monday, and said despite the issues they had, she wanted him to be remembered for the husband and father he was and not for trying to kill her.
‘I am doing my best to separate the man he was Saturday night from the man I married,’ Rachel said through a family spokesperson. ‘I know that’s not the same person. The main thing right now is my kids.’
A happy family shattered: Jason Butler (right) got into a fight with his wife, Rachel Butler (left). The argument ended when he shot her in the chest and then, fatally, turned the gun on himself
Forgiveness: Rachel says she wants her husband to be remembered for the man he was- not for his actions Saturday
The couple was in counseling, according to the Houston Chron. Their young children, aged two and six, were not home at the time of the shooting.
Rachel had filed for divorce on October 10 citing a ‘conflict of personalities,’ court records show. The couple married in May 2014 and were no longer living together as of September.
The couple’s counseling was supposed to help guide them with how to best move froward for the children.
The couple bought their home in the Ridgelake Shores area of Fishcreek in the spring of 2016.
The mother of two told The Courier it was a ‘miracle’ she survived.
‘God needed one of us here for our two precious babies,’ she said, again saying she was forgiving her late husband. ‘I am very sorry that everything ended this way.’
Rachel was able to call 911 herself, despite being shot in the chest.
She owns The Beauty Lounge, a salon in The Woodlands.
The couple’s friends were shocked by the news.
‘Nothing that I have heard today sounds like my friend – nothing,’ said Danny Pechal to Chron who has known Jason for two decades.
Tragedy. Jason successfully killed himself, but his wife Rachel survived being shot in the chest
As news of the tragedy spread, the couple’s friends poured out their grief, some mourning Jason and others describing Rachel as ‘strong, beautiful and courageous.’
‘Please remember him in this light, the love you can see he had for his family, the love he had for his friends,’ wrote one friend on Facebook.
‘Remember him for the fun loving person we all knew him to be. Things happen, one thing should not take away from who he truly was.’
‘We are in shock but leaning on God for peace and understanding,’ Courtney Lee Stiles wrote on Facebook. ‘Please keep her and her family in your prayers.’
The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting.
If you or someone you know is suicidal call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255