Romero sentence suspended in boyfriend’s death

A Youngsville woman who pleaded guilty to negligent homicide in the 2012 shooting death of her boyfriend received a suspended sentence.

Tammy Romero, 44, was sentenced Friday by 15th Judicial District Court Judge Patrick Michot.

Michot sentenced Romero to one year at hard labor, then suspended the sentence. She also was sentenced to one year unsupervised probation.

Romero was charged with second-degree murder in the July 2012 shooting death of her boyfriend. Police found Victor Wirtz in the Youngsville home he shared with Romero with a gunshot wound to the chest. He died at a hospital.

A grand jury indicted Romero on the lesser charge of manslaughter and she pleaded guilty to negligent homicide in January.

Romero told police she and Wirtz were involved in a verbal and physical fight when Wirtz struck her behind the head, causing a concussion. When she attempted to call the police, Wirtz struggled to take the phone from her.

Romero said she grabbed her handgun from a nightstand to scare Wirtz, who grabbed her arm and pulled the gun towards him. That caused the gun to discharge, striking Wirtz, she said.

Her attorney argued that Romero retrieved the gun in self defense and it discharged accidentally. Court documents allege Wirtz abused Romero prior to the fatal July 2012 incident.

Romero filed a lawsuit against the Youngsville police department alleging law enforcement did not do enough to protect her from Wirtz when she requested it prior to July 2012.

The lawsuit also alleges officers treated her abusively after her arrest to divert attention from their failure to protect her from domestic abuse.