Texan said she killed homeless woman in self defense – but she’s charged with murder

A 34-year-old said she killed a homeless woman in self-defense, Texas officials say.

But now she’s charged with murder.

Houston resident Christine Fesus said she was walking her dog in a shopping center Sunday night when a “homeless woman” threatened her and “aggressively” approached her, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Fesus said she pulled out a gun and fired a shot at the woman — later identified as 36-year-old Deandrea Citizen — and ran home, officials said.

Citizen was found dead in the parking lot of a Food Town grocery store.

Investigators say Fesus called 911 from her nearby apartment and told deputies she shot the woman. She provided a statement and a pistol to the sheriff’s office.

But a nearby surveillance camera captured video disputing Fesus’ version of the confrontation, officials said.

Neither the video nor a description of the confrontation was released.

“Fesus falsely claimed the woman had threatened her and approached her aggressively,” Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted.

Citizen’s friends told KTRK she often slept in front of a church in the same shopping center as the grocery store. A poster with messages in remembrance of her was taped to the church a day after the shooting, the news outlet reported.

Fesus remains in jail and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.