HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – 34-year-old Nicholas Finley has been charged with capital murder in connection to the shooting death and robbery of his 29-year-old girlfriend, Merseana Struggs. Investigators say the shooting happened at the Park at Cumberland Apartments on July 19.
Struggs neighbor, Shawnee Drury, said she watched the shooting unfold. She said earlier that day, Finley got pulled over in Struggs car and he asked her to bring him an insurance card.
“My roommate took her to go down there and he wasn’t there. So, when they came back to the apartments, he was sitting in her car. She jumped out and had a confrontation with him, and he shot her a couple times,” said Drury.
Drury said she hid inside her bathroom as the gunfire rang out.
“I just had my hands over my head, and It was so loud. I thought he was coming in the house because he kept saying he was going to kill everybody in the house. He was going to kill us for helping her,” said Drury.
Drury said Struggs fought to get away.
“She, made it into my truck, I guess, and he shot her. Four or five more times over there, and then she managed to make it over here at that point. And he shot her, like, eight more times,” said Drury.
According to deputies, Finley took off with Struggs car and purse. He was later found and taken into custody.
Drury did not know Struggs for very long, but she described her as beautiful, kind and a loving mother.
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said murders involving intimate partners make up 35 percent of the murders in unincorporated Harris County. The Houston Area Women’s Center told KPRC 2 Reporter Corley Peel leaving an abuser can be the most dangerous time. Chief Program Officer, Chanica Brown, said if an abuser has a gun in the home, lethality can increase by 500 percent.
“At Houston Area Women’s Center, we see domestic violence occur in, in all facets. So, we see that through physical violence, we see that through sexual violence. We also see that through economic and financial abuse. Like that is a way that abusers are able to kind of keep their, the survivor’s captive, mental abuse, all of those things are very present,” said Brown.
Brown said since Hurricane Beryl, HAWC has received a significant increase in calls. She said isolation is a big contributing factor for domestic violence incidents.
“Whenever we have survivors call our hotline our 24-hour hotline. We focus on safety planning. Sometimes they need to know what to do. They may not necessarily be ready to leave their abusive situation, but we always want to make sure that they know how to leave, what they can do in the meantime to maintain their safety,” said Brown.