This was the happiest time in Teqnika Moultrie's life, but it was tragically cut short early Sunday morning in Austin, Texas.
The 30-year-old school bus driver for the Sequoia Union High School District in Redwood City was shot in the head and killed instantly at 2:13 a.m. July 31. She died in her wife's arms.
The Austin Police Department announced Wednesday that the suspect they had previously identified, Endicott McCray, 24, was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals in Atlanta.
Moultrie and her wife, Sabrina Moultrie, were enjoying an evening out on Sixth Street, a popular entertainment district a few blocks away from the Lone Star State's Capitol.
They were in Austin visiting Sabrina Moultrie's sister and brother-in-law, Tabatha and Timothy Volking, and her niece.
High school sweethearts and Bay Area natives, the lesbian couple married in a private civil ceremony in San Mateo April 18, said Sabrina Moultrie. They were planning a big wedding ceremony at Teqnika Moultrie's aunt and uncle's home in Atherton October 15. Sabrina Moultrie, 32, whose maiden name is Rudd, took her wife's last name.
This Sunday they were going to have their wedding shower. Instead, Sabrina Moultrie is planning her wife's funeral.
The Bay Area Reporter spoke with a heartbroken Sabrina Moultrie on the phone from Austin Tuesday morning.
Vacation Gone Wrong
Sabrina and Teqnika Moultrie had arrived in Austin on Saturday. The couple spent the day having a good time tubing down a local river and visiting the biggest gas station in the world, Buc-ee's.
That night, Teqnika Moultrie, who was full of life, wanted to experience Austin. She rallied everyone to hit the town. They headed downtown to Sixth Street, which is filled with bars, nightclubs, and restaurants.
"The first thing when Teqnika got there, we had just gotten a drink and she's like, 'Thinking about all of the food I'm going to eat tonight. What am I going to eat tonight?'" Sabrina recalled, laughing for a moment at the memory.
The foursome bar-hopped, grabbed slices of pizza, and picked up some doughnuts, said Sabrina Moultrie.
"We had been just having a good time. We were just dancing and having fun," she said, recalling how Teqnika Moultrie even went back to one of the bouncers at the door of one of the clubs they were at and "told him what a great time she had" and "just wanted to say thank you."
"She was just amazing. She had such a big heart and she just loved everyone and everyone loved her," said Sabrina Moultrie.
They were heading back to their car when gunshots rang out. At first Sabrina Moultrie thought it was a car backfiring, she said, but her brother-in-law told everyone to get to the ground.
It was too late. Teqnika Moultrie was hit. They attempted to save her, but she took two last breaths and died instantly as Sabrina Moultrie held her. Four other women were also shot and wounded. Three of the victims were taken to University Medical Center Brackenridge. The fourth victim refused treatment, Mike Benavides, the emergency medical services commander, told the Austin American-Statesman.
Promising Life Snatched Away
Sabrina Moultrie was a senior and Teqnika Moultrie was a sophomore when they met at Woodside High School in Woodside.
During Teqnika Moultrie's senior year she left high school and moved to Sacramento to take care of her mother, who was fighting kidney disease. She gave up a basketball scholarship and other college opportunities, but never regretted it, said Sabrina Moultrie. She earned her general education certificate. In 2008, Teqnika Moultrie's mother died.
"[It] kind of speaks to what a great human she is to give up her future," said Sabrina Moultrie, who helped her during that time.
The couple were together for four years, but split up for about five years soon after Teqnika Moultrie's mother's death. The couple reunited in May 2015. They got engaged in October.
"I loved everything about her, but it was her big heart and her beautiful smile. She would just light up the room with her smile," said Sabrina Moultrie.
Teqnika Moultrie, who identified as white in spite of her estranged father being black, moved back in with her mother's parents, who raised her in Redwood City, Sabrina Moultrie said. She was the youngest child with two older brothers.
Teqnika Moultrie became a bus driver for the Redwood City School District and taught special education between her morning and afternoon bus shifts for eight years. In February, she transferred to the Sequoia Union High School District. She loved her job and everyone loved her, said Sabrina Moultrie, who is a hair stylist in San Carlos.
"She loved children and loved her job," said Sabrina Moultrie. The couple were planning to start their own family.
"We thought we had it all figured [out]," she said, talking about going to church, involvement in the community, and building their lives together. "We figured it out together."
Life was good and moving closer to their dreams of having a normal life with their pit bull, Tiggy, and dreams of becoming parents.
"We just wanted to live a normal everyday life and raise a family. Be good moms and do it together," said Sabrina Moultrie. "Now we don't get to do any of that."
Random Attack
According to media reports, McCray was allegedly aiming for his brother-in-law, who he got into a fight with that night.
McCray was already known to police, who issued a warrant shortly after the shooting. He served time in jail on multiple burglary convictions and was recently arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and released on $6,000 bail in June, according to Hays County court records, reported the American-Statesman. McCray was also scheduled to appear in court on separate charges for marijuana possession next month, according to a July 31 news release from the Austin Police Department.
McCray's mother had publicly urged her son to turn himself in, Sabrina Moultrie told the B.A.R.
"No matter what happens to him, it's still not going to bring her back," said Sabrina Moultrie. "It's so wrong. I hope he's caught. I hope he rots in hell.
"It's not going to give me my life back," she continued, "because now I'm forever changed. My wife died in my arms and there's no going back from that."
Sabrina is making funeral arrangements for Teqnika Moultrie, whose body was cremated in Austin. No date has been set yet.
In addition to her wife, Teqnika is survived by her grandparents, Bob and Cathy Galbreath.