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Written by: E. George
Published September 17, 2024 @ 3:50 PM ET
SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. – A woman was shot and killed by her husband outside a Spalding County courthouse on Friday, September 13, 2024, directly after a hearing they both attended inside. After the victim entered her car, her husband pulled up beside her, stopped his vehicle, and fired multiple shots through his passenger side window, hitting and ultimately killing her.
Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix posted a statement on Facebook addressing the incident. He explained that deputies at the front of the courthouse heard the shots and responded, removing the victim from the car and attempting to control the bleeding, but sadly, she succumbed to her injuries.
Sheriff Dix said the husband drove away after the shooting and refused to stop when deputies tried to pull him over. When the suspect finally stopped his vehicle, he proceeded to shoot himself in the head in an apparent suicide attempt; however, he survived and was transported to Spalding Regional Hospital.
Details about the shooter’s injuries and condition, as well as the charges he will face, have not yet been released.
According to reports, the couple were divorcing and were at the courthouse for a hearing related to the divorce. The judge issued a warrant for Tom Malloy but instead of taking him into custody right then, he was allowed to turn himself in on Monday night.
According to Mrs. Malloy’s daughter, her father, Tom Malloy, wouldn’t let go and been stalking her mother. In a Facebook post made on August 3, one month before the murder, Mrs. Mallory wrote: “It’s sad that I have to walk around terrified for my life and my children’s. I know if something happens to me. Please know who did it. This man has said numerous times that he’s going to kill me. I am posting and trying to leave a paper trail. This man is extremely dangerous.”
The sheriff took to Facebook to make a now controversial post to discuss and deny a rumor about the victim asking a deputy for an escort to her vehicle and being denied before she was shot and killed; he stated that the rumor was false. He said she had asked clerks in the Magistrate Office for an escort, but “a deputy was never requested by anyone to escort her.”
He explained that security footage showed her walking through the courthouse lobby and passing deputies without speaking with them. He said she walked outside to her car, which was parallel-parked facing north on 6th Street, and her husband pulled up beside her, also facing north.
Sheriff Dix’s Facebook post also discussed the couple’s history of domestic violence reports and police visits to the home. He said there were multiple reports in which the two parties blamed each other, the authorities only observed old bruising or no marks at all, and no primary aggressor was identified; therefore, no one was arrested.
Some reports involved witnesses, but they either said they did not see anything or explained the incidents differently than the involved parties. One incident involving damaged furniture resulted in the couple agreeing the fight was mutual.
Sheriff Dix’s post states that there were times Mrs. Mallory claimed her husband hit her and pulled a gun on her and others in which Mr. Mallory claimed his wife hit him and shot at him. Dix called it a “toxic relationship.”
Deputies arrested Mr. Mallory once, but he was released on bond. The sheriff said his office is determining who posted his bond.
Dix stated that in addition to the couple, the individuals present at their hearing were their attorneys, the judge, and Mrs. Mallory’s friend. The sheriff said the rumor about the victim requesting assistance from a deputy was started by this friend.
Sheriff Dix stated, “No one is blaming Mrs. Mallory for what happened to her. We have to take facts and evidence and weigh them against the law in order to act. This is a horrible thing that happened, and people are emotional and angry about it.”
He continued, “Do improvements need to be made to the law? Yes, they do. Maybe it wasn’t a deputy or my agency that failed; maybe it was the law itself. By the way, the deputies that allegedly refused to escort her are the same ones that removed her from the car, tried to control the bleeding, and tried to save her life.”
The post sparked backlash and a barrage of negative comments from community members.
This investigation remains active.