Josephine Nicole Nikki Austria was 51 when she was shot and killed during a birthday party at her Clearwater, Florida, home on Hillcreek Circle East on April 20, 2014. The shooting happened in the early hours while guests were present; a friend had been helping Austria to bed after she developed alcohol poisoning. Her 24-year-old boyfriend, Alexander Richardson, ran to a nearby gas station afterward and told the clerk he had shot his girlfriend. Austria was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.

Reports say the couple had a tumultuous relationship with prior incidents of physical abuse; in February 2014 Austria had told a friend Richardson had hit her in the head multiple times. Richardson was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and was held in custody as the investigation continued. What details about the night remain unclear?