A 36-year-old
mother of five was arrested at her Henderson home and was charged with murder Thursday, about three months after she already admitted to police that she
strangled her boyfriend until he died.
Tammy Lucero
was booked into the Henderson jail and is being held there without bail for the
killing of her 35-year-old boyfriend, David Hudson, whose body was found May 24
at their apartment near Lake Mead Parkway and Boulder Highway. She told
investigators then that she acted in self defense. She is scheduled to make her
appearance in court on Wednesday.
According to
police report, Hudson punched Lucero in the face and was starting to choke her
with both hands when she managed to push him off, grab hold of a computer cord,
wrap it around his neck and hold on tight until he stopped breathing. Lucero
told the police that she feared that Hudson would "beat or kill her if she
let go” of the cord. She said Hudson had even stabbed her in the head two weeks
before the strangulation incident.
Detectives
assigned on the case noted that Lucero's injuries were consistent with her
story of what happened on the day she killed her boyfriend. However, they
apparently now feel that Lucero may have gone above and beyond self defense.
Both Lucero
and Hudson have records of prior arrests, with Hudson for domestic battery and
Lucero for drug charges. Neighbors told the police that the couple both seemed
abusive toward each other, with Lucero being the more abusive of the two. They
said Hudson seemed afraid of his girlfriend.