A woman who was shot in the head not only survived but made herself tea and offered an astonished deputy something to drink, authorities said.

Tammy Sexton, 47, remained in hospital three days after being wounded by her husband, who killed himself after he shot his wife. She is expected to fully recover.

"There's no way she should be alive other than a miracle from God," said Sheriff Mike Byrd of Jackson County, Mississippi.

Byrd said deputies were looking for Sexton's husband, Donald Ray Sexton, earlier in the week to give him a document ordering him to stay away from his wife. Court records show he was put on probation for six months on April 9 for domestic violence.

He showed up at their home in rural Jackson County in Southeast Mississippi about 12.10am on Tuesday and confronted his wife as a relative ran next door to call police, the sheriff said.