Brittany Richard was killed while defending a cousin during a birthday gathering.
TEXAS CITY, Texas — A Galveston County woman was sentenced to 35 years in prison after a jury found her guilty of murder in the stabbing death of 33-year-old Brittany Richard inside a Texas City sports bar.
Richard, a mother of two, was killed Aug. 30, 2024, at Time Out Sports Bar No. 5 during a family birthday celebration. Police said Shynice Felder, 35, stabbed Richard nine times after an attack that began near the restroom and also injured Richard’s younger cousin.
The night had started as a family gathering for Richard’s cousin. Relatives said the cousin was coming back from the restroom when two women attacked her. Richard moved in to help, and the attack turned toward her. Officers said Richard was stabbed inside the bar around 12:30 a.m. She was taken to HCA Mainland Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Richard’s mother, Shametria Richard, said her daughter had been preparing to sign divorce papers within hours of the killing. She said the timing has stayed with the family as much as the violence. “If I could ask her anything, I would ask her why,” Shametria Richard said. “And why that night?”
Investigators said Felder was the girlfriend of Richard’s estranged husband. Relatives said the two women had no known conflict before the stabbing. Felder was arrested in Houston after the killing and booked into the Galveston County Jail. Her bond was set at $450,000 on charges of murder and assault with a deadly weapon before the case moved through court.
The verdict closes one part of a case that began with a birthday party and ended with a mother dead just before a major court step in her personal life. Richard’s family has said she worked as an accountant for the city of La Marque and was focused on her children, who were 13 and 9 when she was killed.
Felder’s 35-year sentence was handed down Monday after the jury found her guilty of murder. The assault case tied to Richard’s cousin was also part of the original charges. Court records and family statements did not answer every question about what led Felder to the bar that night.
Richard’s family said the sentence does not change the loss. Shametria Richard said she did not reach the hospital in time to say goodbye. “No one’s child deserves to die like that,” she said. “No one.”
The case now stands as a murder conviction in Galveston County, with Felder sentenced to prison and Richard’s family left to mark the milestones her death interrupted.
Author note: Last updated April 30, 2026.