Tarleton grad sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to shooting ex-boyfriend in abdomen.
Updated: Aug 23, 2023
A Tarleton State graduate pleaded guilty on Tuesday to deadly conduct for shooting her former boyfriend, Matthew Anderson, in the abdomen.
She was sentenced to eight years of probation and ordered to pay fines and restitution.
The official complaint outlines what happened at Bluebonnet Apartments in Stephenville on Oct. 10, 2019 when Rachel Tuggle, a then-student at Tarleton, retrieved a pistol from her roommate’s closet while the couple struggled over her cell phone.
“Tuggle then stood between the exit of Tuggle’s bedroom where Anderson was and the exit of her apartment,” the complaint states. “As Anderson tried to exit the apartment with Tuggle’s cell phone, Tuggle pointed the pistol in the direction of Anderson and discharged a single round.”
The bullet struck Anderson in the abdomen. Tuggle then called 9-1-1 and helped him out of the apartment before transporting him to the hospital.
Anderson has recovered from his injuries.
Erath County District attorney Alan Nash told Beneath the Surface News that Tuggle left Stephenville a short time later.
She was recently arrested and held at the Erath County Jail after her bail bondsman revoked her bond after she left the state.
Tuggle was originally charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, but the charge was reduced to deadly conduct.
She smiled and shook her attorney’s hand after the plea agreement was reached Tuesday.
