Florida woman pregnant with twins claims self-defense after she murders her unborn babies’ father, police say

A Florida woman was taken into custody in connection to the fatal shooting of her live-in boyfriend on New Year’s Eve.

On Feb. 1, authorities in Alachua County arrested Rachael Laniese Wilks, 29, and charged her with premeditated first-degree murder.

Around 9 p.m. Dec. 31, Wilks phoned a non-emergency number and spoke with an officer about removing someone from her Gainesville home, according to an arrest report obtained by the Alachua Chronicle.

The officer told Wilks she would have to evict the man since they both shared the residence, the arrest report states.

Almost three hours later, at 11:45 p.m., Wilks called 911 while driving to her parents’ home with her four children. She told a dispatcher her boyfriend attacked her and she “discharged” a weapon ‘in self-defense,” according to the report.

She then requested emergency responders check on him since she didn’t know if he was hurt.

Officers with the Gainesville Police Department discovered Wilks’ boyfriend fatally shot in the head in the couple's house.

According to the report, during questioning, Wilks allegedly said she and the victim, who she claimed was often violent and hit her, had been in an ongoing fight.

Wilks armed herself with a gun, she told detectives, after the alleged dispute escalated and he shoved her into a closet door and pinned her to their bed.

When Wilks threatened to call police if he didn’t leave, the arrest report states, he threatened her life and those of their unborn babies.

She then allegedly told police she charged across the room, closed her eyes, and shot at her boyfriend but did not check if he was hit before getting her children and fleeing the home.

In the report, Gainesville police noted officers had never previously been called to the couple's home in connection to domestic violence issues. Evidence at the scene, detectives said, also seemed to contradict Wilks’ account of what happened, such as the bullet appeared to have been fired into her boyfriend’s skull in a downward angle, indicating he was not standing at the time as she claimed.

The search history on Wilks' phone allegedly showed she had looked up “eviction cost gainesville fl" shortly before her boyfriend got shot.

Wilks allegedly later changed her version of events multiple times, and police placed her under arrest.