Background: News footage of Lavan Bullock in court in September (KLTV). Inset: Kathleen Bullock (Bigham Mortuary).
According to the Longview Police Department, officers were dispatched to the Bullocks’ residence on the afternoon of September 22nd for a welfare check. Upon arrival, they discovered Kathleen Bullock’s lifeless body in the bathroom, the result of a fatal gunshot wound. The accusation against Lavan Bullock is grim, as he faces charges of first-degree murder.
In a chilling revelation, court documents obtained by KLTV, a local ABC affiliate, indicate that Lavan Bullock allegedly confessed to the crime through a text message. In the message, he reportedly admitted to having “lost [his] mind” before shooting his wife.
Following the harrowing incident, Lavan Bullock was taken into custody. Before his arrest, he received medical treatment for injuries described as non-life-threatening. Currently, he remains in the Gregg County Jail. The arrest affidavit, as reported by KLTV, reveals that Lavan Bullock attempted to take his own life by consuming 30 sleeping pills after the alleged shooting, as per a text sent to a friend.
The same affidavit provides further distressing insights, quoting Lavan Bullock’s message to his friend, in which he claimed his actions were driven by years of perceived physical and emotional abuse from his wife. Conversations with the police revealed that Kathleen Bullock had asked for a divorce just the previous month. Neighbors also suggested that Lavan Bullock suspected his wife of infidelity, adding layers to the complexity of this tragic case.
The affidavit stated that Lavan Bullock told his friend via text, “[I] lost my mind from years of her physical and emotional abuse and shot her.” When police spoke to the friend, he told them that Kathleen Bullock had asked her husband for a divorce the month before. Neighbors told police that Lavan Bullock thought his wife might be having an affair.
In the texts to his friend, police said Lavan Bullock instructed him to call a preacher and to make sure the couple’s daughter did not enter their home. He reportedly texted, “Thank you my friend! I’m so sorry to end it this way!”
A judge ordered that Lavan Bullock be held on $1 million bond at his arraignment in September. He remains in custody at Gregg County Jail.
