Teniqu Cushman was texting Edward Shaw — her 70-year-old “friend with benefits” — about the ex-lover she alleged was mentally abusive to her, police say.
One of the messages Cushman sent Shaw, with whom she had been having a sexual relationship for nearly two years, said Alex Novak, her former partner, “had to be gone,” according to the Virginian-Pilot.
Shaw allegedly tried to make that happen on New Year’s Eve, according to WTKR.
Novak was house-sitting for someone that day when Shaw decided to enact his revenge, prosecutor Brent Johnson said at a bond hearing for Cushman, according to WAVY.
Johnson alleged that Shaw knew Novak would be there because Cushman told him so.
Shaw allegedly saw someone in the van in front of the house and fired his gun at them, according to WVEC.
But there was a problem: It wasn’t Novak in the van, police say.
Instead, it was 50-year-old Caroline Hendrix, a pre-K teacher who was described as Novak’s girlfriend in a police report, The Virginian-Pilot reported. A pair of bullets pierced her thigh, going up into her upper body and killing her, police say.
After seeing what happened, Novak returned gunfire, hitting Shaw, according to police in the WVEC report. Shaw fled the scene thinking he completed his task, texting Cushman that he “shot him.”
Hendrix died, according to WTKR, and Shaw was found later that day by police. He argued that he was a victim of a road rage shooting.
But police say they found the texts between Shaw and Cushman, as well as evidence that the 70-year-old had been giving her money so she could pay bills and start a business, The Virginian-Pilot reported.
Shaw was charged with second-degree murder, WAVY reported, and Cushman with conspiracy to commit second-degree murder.
Kristin Paulding, Cushman’s lawyer, called it a “stretch” to say text messages prove her client wanted Shaw to kill Novak, whom she met on the “Plenty of Fish” online dating site, according to The Virginian-Pilot. Instead, she said it was an “irrational action” on the part of Shaw.
Neither Shaw nor Cushman received bond, and they have preliminary hearings in April.
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