The Texas City mother was stabbed nine times hours before a planned divorce signing.
TEXAS CITY, Texas — Brittany Richard went to a Texas City sports bar for a family birthday party and was killed before sunrise, hours before relatives said she was expected to finalize her divorce.
The 33-year-old mother of two died after being stabbed nine times Aug. 30, 2024, inside Time Out Sports Bar No. 5. A jury later found Shynice Felder, 35, guilty of murder, and a judge sentenced her Monday to 35 years in prison.
Relatives said the attack began when Richard’s younger cousin returned from the restroom and was stabbed by two women. Richard stepped in to defend her cousin. Police said Felder then stabbed Richard during the fight. Officers responded around 12:30 a.m., and Richard was taken to HCA Mainland Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The crime stunned Richard’s family because of the connection investigators later described. Police said Felder was dating Richard’s estranged husband. Family members said Richard and Felder had no known history with each other before the stabbing. The family has described the attack as sudden, violent and tied to a relationship Richard was preparing to legally end.
Richard’s mother, Shametria Richard, said the family had been looking toward a new chapter for her daughter. Instead, relatives gathered outside Richard’s home after her death and spoke about a life cut short. “When I touched her body, close to 2 o’clock, she was cold,” Shametria Richard said.
Felder was arrested in Houston after the killing and taken to the Galveston County Jail. At the start of the case, she faced charges of murder and assault with a deadly weapon. A judge set her bond at $450,000. The murder charge later went before a jury, which convicted her before the 35-year sentence was imposed.
Richard worked as an accountant for the city of La Marque and was raising two children, ages 13 and 9 at the time of her death. Her family said she had gone out that night to celebrate, not to confront anyone. The cousin who was also stabbed survived.
Some questions remain unanswered for Richard’s family, including why the attack happened that night and why it turned fatal so quickly. “She’s never coming back,” relatives said after the verdict, describing the sentence as accountability but not repair.
Felder has now been sentenced in the murder case. Richard’s family said the original crime remains the center of their grief: a birthday gathering, a restroom attack, and a mother killed before she could sign the papers meant to start over.
Author note: Last updated April 30, 2026.