Baltimore nurse anesthetist Rajaee Black allegedly killed his ex-girlfriend, then ranted on social media about a legal brawl over the custody of his kids with his ex-wife, before killing his ex-wife and then turning the gun on himself, authorities said.
Baltimore police said they found the ex-girlfriend, 41-year-old Tara LaBang, dead from gunshot wounds inside her home at 1:37 pm. Authorities later made a second devastating discovery after Black allegedly drove 30 minutes to his ex-wife’s apartment in Columbia, Maryland, where he gunned down 42-year-old Wendy Black before killing himself.
“We believe the suspect came to the area, sought out the female victim, shot and killed her, and then shot and killed himself,” Howard County police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said at a news conference on Saturday, according to WTOP.
In a Facebook Live video recorded after his ex-girlfriend’s murder, Black said he “just did something crazy,” according to the Baltimore Sun.
“I just shot my ex-girlfriend in the head,” the 44-year-old allegedly said. “Felt like a dream. I never thought I would be that guy.”
Black allegedly continues by saying he “can’t go to prison,” before blaming his ex-wife, who also worked as a registered nurse anesthetist, for his depression.
“She next,” he allegedly says. “Then I’m going to do myself, too.”
As a woman opens the door, Rajaee Black turns the camera toward her and refers to her as his ex-wife before he allegedly says, “Today’s the day.” The roughly 90-second video abruptly cuts off, but authorities say that Black shot his ex-wife before killing himself.
According to Llewellyn, Baltimore police alerted Howard County authorities about Black’s video roughly 15 minutes after local officers got a call about the murder-suicide at 2:08 p.m. “By then, both the victim and the suspect were already deceased,” she said.
The fatal shootings followed well-documented custody filings dating back at least three years, beginning in July 2018, in addition to a series of domestic violence cases against Black, according to the Sun. Two of those cases, including one in April 2020 and a peace order in March 2019 were dismissed by a judge. Two others were dropped not long after they were filed in July and September of 2018, the Sun reported.
In the haunting Facebook video, Black allegedly claims he was accused of molesting his kids during a longstanding legal battle with his ex.
Shortly after discovering his ex-wife’s body, WTOP reported, police found the Blacks’ two kids sitting in Rajaee Black’s parked BMW.