Police: Woman charged with killing daughter's boyfriend

LENOIR, N.C. — Nancy Austin is sitting in jail accused of gunning down her daughter's boyfriend the day after Christmas.

Family members and neighbors said Austin, 57, shot the 20-year-old outside her Caldwell County home Thursday afternoon.

The accused killer's daughter filed for a restraining order against the father of her child on Aug. 20, 2012. She accused Dylan Short of holding a knife to her throat while she was pregnant.

A judge did not approve that restraining order.

Police said Friday the mother of Short's girlfriend shot and killed him.

Neighbors are trying to come to grips with the deadly shooting on Tara Place Drive. They said the suspect's daughter and Short were in a relationship and just had a baby.

"This is a tragic event and our thoughts and prayers go out to the victim's family," said Caldwell County Sheriff Alan Jones in a statement. "This was a young man just beginning his life and it has been taken away from him."

Investigators continue to look through evidence in the shooting, and neighbors want to know why it happened.
Short's godfather said he was a good kid and had never been in trouble.

Austin is being held at the Caldwell County Detention Center without bond and is scheduled to make an appearance before a judge Monday.

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