‘That’s the way it is in Mississippi’: Wife kills husband at courthouse after they finalized their divorce, police say

A woman in Mississippi is behind bars for shooting and killing her husband in broad daylight outside of a busy county courthouse minutes after he finalized their divorce, according to police officials.

Tanya Saucier, 49, was sitting in her car and waiting for her ex-hubby, James Ray Saucier, to exit the Lenoir Rowell Criminal Justice Center in Poplarville on Tuesday morning — after he finalized their split in court — before she gunned him down, according to the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Office.

Tanya Saucier’s divorce attorney, Jansen Owen, told Biloxi ABC and CBS affiliate WLOX that the former couple had to go into the justice center separately for the conclusion of their divorce proceedings because of their “volatile” relationship.

“The meeting for the Sauciers and their attorneys with the judge to finalize the divorce proceedings was an impromptu, unscheduled meeting,” said Pearl River County Sheriff’s Office Lead Investigator, Maj. Scott Allee, in an interview with WLOX.

He said Tanya Saucier, who is charged with murder, used a 9 mm handgun with a 15-round magazine to take out James Saucier as courtgoers and lawyers — including her own — were at the justice center.

“What Miss Saucier did yesterday is unjustifiable,” Owen told WLOX. “I witnessed her murder him.”

Owen said there is “no justification” and “no excuse” for anybody to open fire on somebody in a public setting the way his client did. He and Tanya Saucier arrived at the courthouse at around 10 a.m. and James Saucier showed up with his lawyer an hour later. James Saucier then exited the justice center just before 1 p.m., according to officials, before being shot.

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“I was handling some paperwork when things went crossways,” James Saucier’s attorney, Don Rafferty, told WLOX.

After the shooting, Tayna Saucier was apprehended at the scene and arrested on a single count of murder. Owen, who is also a state representative, blamed what she did on the Magnolia State’s lax security at courthouses, which he says is a common problem.

“That’s the way it is in Mississippi — throughout the state,” he said. “We have a really big problem throughout Mississippi with lacking courthouse security.”

Police reportedly have some funding that they’ve “procured through federal appropriations, according to Maj. Allee, that’s been set aside to improve courthouse security, though it’s unclear how much.

“There is a recognized need for enhanced security measures there,” Allee said.

Loved ones for both James Saucier and Tanya Saucier have said they are saddened by what happened. While family and friends knew the pair had problems, WLOX reports that nobody ever suspected that they’d get this bad.

“I wish they could have worked out their problems in a peaceful way,” said one of James Saucier’s relatives, Wordie Carroll, in an interview with Jackson Fox affiliate WDBD.

Johanna Peterson, a sister-in-law of James Saucier’s sister, said: “The family is in shock, as well as frustrated and enraged. She was right there with her attorney and shot him 9-10 times. She’s taken seven grandchildren’s grandfather away from them. He has a daughter and a son.”

Court records obtained by WDBD and WLOX show that James Saucier was indicted in August on charges of aggravated assault and domestic violence with a deadly weapon, but his divorce lawyer insists it was Tanya Saucier who was the alleged instigator and attacker.

“My client said he was defending himself,” Rafferty said. “And you saw what happened today.”

Regardless of whether James Saucier was innocent or not, Owen said Tanya Saucier showed that committing murder is not how you handle things.

“We do not do vigilante justice in America,” he said.