In the last several months, Crystal Baumann had accused ex-boyfriend Troy Cooks of breaking her phone, slapping her, refusing to leave her place and sending text messages about their sex life to her loved ones, according to New Orleans court records. She obtained two temporary restraining orders, but records show neither was in effect by the end of this summer after she skipped a court hearing. Cooks then showed up at her Marigny home on Friday afternoon, igniting an argument that ended when Baumann fired a gun into his face, New Orleans police said. He died over the weekend, and Baumann could be facing more serious charges after initially being arrested on a count of aggravated battery. Cooks' slaying was among 15 homicides that occurred in New Orleans between Oct. 26 and Monday morning, a particularly deadly 18-day period in the city. While little information has been made public about the circumstances behind many of the other killings, court documents vividly illustrate the turbulent past Baumann, 33, shared with Cooks, who would have turned 30 on Tuesday. Baumann on March 1 filed papers in Orleans Parish Civil District Court alleging that Cooks had slapped her after she kicked him out of her home in the 1900 block of North Rampart Street a day earlier. He also broke her iPhone and threatened to stay put before he finally left, the documents said. Baumann was shaken, she wrote. She said he had previously destroyed her security cameras and spray-painted her place when she lived in Central City, and she was worried things would escalate even more. The court issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting Cooks from reaching out to her or going to her home at least until a judge could hear the case. But it does not appear the hearing ever took place or that Cooks was served with notice of the proceeding, according to court records. Baumann obtained another temporary restraining order against Cooks on June 23, four days after she said he sent a text message about them having sex to her family and friends. "He continues to come to my house and curse me out in public places," Baumann wrote in her application for the order, which was again supposed to remain in effect at least until a judge could hear the case. She added, "I have asked him to stop disrespecting me but he cannot control himself. He is trying to separate my family. He is calling my family and friends, harassing them. "I want to settle this matter as positive as possible. I really care about his well-being but he refuses to listen to reason." But Baumann did not appear for an Aug. 3 hearing in the case, and Civil District Court Judge Monique Barial had to dismiss the order, records show. The last argument between Baumann and Cooks ended about 12:30 p.m. Friday when she fired a bullet into his face at her home, police said. He died Saturday at a hospital. Officers took Baumann to the headquarters of the 8th Police District. She declined to speak with investigators and was booked on Cooks' shooting. Her bail on one count of aggravated battery by shooting was set at $50,000. But that amount could increase sharply if she is booked in Cooks' death. As of Monday evening, her status had not changed. A neighbor said Friday that Baumann and Cooks had been arguing for what seemed to be hours when the shooting occurred. Cooks was one of several victims from recent slayings whom the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office identified Monday. The office said 24-year-old Je'Ryan Edwards was the man killed in a shooting Saturday night that left five others wounded at Forstall and Burgundy streets, in the Lower 9th Ward. Louis Henry, 29, was fatally shot in the 3300 block of Gen. Meyer Avenue in Algiers on Saturday night. And 24-year-old Keaton Wills was shot to death Friday in the 7000 block of Yorktown Drive, in New Orleans East, the Coroner's Office said.
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