A man accused of fatally shooting his estranged wife Tuesday morning has been charged with murder, deputies said.

Dexter Lee Boulware is suspected of killing Tacora Thomas about 10:30 a.m. at Thomas’ mother’s 200 Thornfield Road home, deputies said. He’s being held at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on murder and burglary charges.

Thomas and her mother arrived at the home in the Winslow subdivision off Clemson Road and were assaulted by a suspect inside the home. The suspect shot Thomas several times in the upper body, deputies said, and left the house.

Thomas was pronounced dead by Richland County Coroner Gary Watts at 11:13 a.m. Her mother was not injured in the incident, deputies said.

An autopsy will be performed on her body Tuesday.

Boulware was found at a relative’s home on Durham Creek Court and was arrested a short time after the shooting.

He was out of jail on bond for a prior criminal domestic violence charge at the time of the shooting, and Thomas had taken out a court order of protection against Boulware, said Richland County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Curtis Wilson. The department had a history of responding to the home on domestic calls, Wilson said.

Boulware was supposed to appear in court soon on the criminal domestic violence charge and was not supposed to be at the home, Wilson said.

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