On December 5, 2023, Lauren Short, 30, and her mother, Katherine Kathy Short, 56, were found fatally shot at their home on Austral Loop in Austin, Texas. A motion alert alerted the homeowner, Jeffrey Short, who viewed live security footage showing someone forcing entry while his wife and daughter were inside. Officers who arrived confronted a suspect in the backyard; an exchange of gunfire injured an officer. The suspect fled in a stolen vehicle and was stopped after a crash at FM 1826 and SH 45. Lauren and Katherine Short were pronounced dead at the scene; the suspect, identified as 34-year-old Shane James, was arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with their deaths.

Lauren was described as kind, patient, and loving, a Texas A&M University graduate from the Class of 2016 who kept close friendships from childhood into adulthood and shared a close, sisterlike bond with her mother. The killings were part of a series of violent events that began in San Antonio and continued into Austin.