A 42-year-old man was sentenced this week to 50 years in prison for killing his wife at a relative’s home in Spring in 2020, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

“No child should lose their mother to domestic violence, and that is why we take any case of violence against women so seriously,” Ogg said. “We know that violence escalates, like in this case, where the defendant committed at least two other assaults before killing an intimate partner.”

Ralph Leroy Cooper pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced Wednesday by a judge for fatally shooting 43-year-old Rhonda Rochelle Williams just before 9 p.m. on Aug. 25, 2020.

Cooper, who lived in Rosharon with his wife and their 3-year-old son, had moved to Spring to live with relatives.

On the evening of the murder, Cooper was at the home in Spring with the couple’s child and other family members, and requested his wife come to the house. After she arrived, the two began to argue, and he chased her around the house with a gun. After she ran outside, he shot her several times, including once in the head.

He then fled, driving a black Cadillac CTS with black rims. Deputies with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded and began investigating.

Cooper was later arrested and pleaded guilty to murder on the eve of trial in January. After a hearing this week, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Kelly Marshall, who is assigned to the Domestic Violence Division of the DA’s Office and prosecuted Cooper, said Williams did everything she could to get away, which was recorded on surveillance cameras.

“She was running for her life, trying to get away,” Marshall said. “Once they got outside, and she was trapped between two houses, the defendant walked up to her and shot her in the head while she begged for her life. After she fell, he shot at her two more times and walked away nonchalantly.”

Marshall noted that Cooper had two prior convictions for assaulting two other women before he married Williams. He must serve at least half of the sentence before he will be eligible for parole. He also has charges pending in Brazoria County that could add time to his prison sentence.

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