Rochelle Roquemore, a sophomore chemical engineering major from Sugar Land, will be starting classes Monday without her sister and roommate Jacqueline, a freshman education major from Sugar Land, who was killed on Dec. 29 outside her Spring Loop apartment at the Spring Heights apartment complex in College Station.
"Jackie was so beautiful and vibrant it can't be described. She has a right to live," Rochelle said.
Christopher Young, the 23-year-old from Missouri City who killed Jacqueline before taking his own life was being sought by College Station police the night before the shooting, said Lt. Rodney Sigler, public information officer for the College Station Police Department (CSPD).
Rochelle said she spoke with Young for more than two hours on Dec. 28 after arriving home at 9:30 p.m. to find Young at the Roquemore's apartment with a gun, threatening to kill himself.
Young had climbed onto the Roquemore's apartment balcony and broke through the glass door to enter the apartment looking for Jacqueline, who was staying with friends, Rochelle said.
"I thought he was all right when he left," Rochelle said.
Sigler said Rochelle filed a complaint after the incident.
CSPD contacted Young by cell phone the night of Dec. 28. and he told police he was in Houston but refused to cooperate and turn himself in, Sigler said.
After police spoke with Young they put out a Welfare Bulletin, a bulletin at a lower status than an All Police Bulletin (APB), informing any official who came into contact with Young that he was armed and potentially dangerous.
"We got in touch with everyone we could between here and Houston and told them about it," said Sigler.
"We did everything we could to find him," Sigler said.
Young confronted Jacqueline alone the next day in the parking lot of her apartment at approximately 12:45 p.m. where he shot her in the chest and then killed himself, according to Rochelle.
"Our parents told (Jacqueline) to get out of the apartment so she was going to stay with some friends for a few days, then go home after our parents returned from a trip," Rochelle said. "She left to put her stuff in her car when I heard two shots."
Jacqueline was transported to College Station Medical Center before being pronounced dead, Sigler said.
Rochelle said she learned to never assume what people are thinking.
"I never felt threatened by (Young) and certainly didn't think he would hurt Jackie," Rochelle said.
Rochelle also said Jacqueline did not tell her family how Young was reacting to their breakup until Jacqueline returned home Sunday and learned he had been in the girls' apartment with a gun.
"I hope people know to tell people close to them what is going on. It turned out no one in my family knew Chris that well," Rochelle said.
Sigler emphasizes the importance of contacting police when someone is in a dangerous relationship.
"If anyone is in a relationship where safety is threatened they need to get professional help, whether through (the police) or a different source," Sigler said.
The program director at Phoebe's Home, who asked to not be named, said any woman feeling threatened can seek protection 24 hours a day by calling Phoebe's Hotline at (888) 45-AWAKE or (888) 452-9253. After a phone call, a Phoebe's Home representative will come to the woman's location and transport her to a safe residence, if necessary.
Phoebe's Home is a non-profit women's group that has been open since 1978. They provide not only shelter and safety to women feeling threatened but also counseling to anyone in need of help.
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