The ex-wife of Devin Patrick Kelley, the gunman who shot and killed 26 people in a church service in Sutherland Springs on November 5, has broken her silence to reveal horrifying details about her one-time husband.
In an interview with Inside Edition, 25-year-old Tessa Brennaman said her marriage with Kelley was a terrifying one while it lasted.
"I was terrified, really terrified," Kelley's first wife said.
Brennaman said that before Kelley started abusing him, they had a normal relationship. She said they met while working at a hamburger shop. At the time, Kelley seemed to be a normal person who was nice, funny, and paid for their food whenever they ate out.
Eventually in 2011, Kelley married Brennaman, who had a nine-month-old son from a previous relationship. The normal relationship soon turned into something terrifying.
"He would choke me, punch me, kick me," Brennaman said. "There would be times where I was on the floor curled up and having to protect my organs because he would be violently kicking me."
Brennaman said Kelley suffered from acute depression, and then became violent. He became so abusive towards her, she remained traumatized for years.
Kelley threatened to kill her and her family if she ever opened up to others and asked for help, Brennaman said.
"He's like, 'you know, I could just bury you somewhere here in the desert and nobody would ever find you," she shared.
Aside from being physically and sexually abusive towards her, Brennaman said Kelley was also very secretive, so much so that he wouldn't even allow her to touch his phone. Brennaman, however, discovered that Kelley was engaged in troubling correspondence with other women.
The turning point for their marriage came when they were driving along a highway and Brennaman warned Kelley about driving too fast, but instead of slowing down, Kelley pulled his gun out of his holster and pointed it to her head.
"He had a gun in his holster right here and he took it out and he put it to my [temple]," Brennaman shared. "He told me, 'Do you want to die? Do you want to die?'"
She says Kelley also admitted was behind her child's skull fracture. At that point, she had had enough and says she turned him into the authorities.
In 2012, Kelley pleaded guilty to hitting, choking, kicking Brennaman and pulling her hair. CNN reported that in his plea, Kelley also admitted to hitting her son "with a force likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm."
He was sentenced to one year in prison, and was discharged from the Air Force on bad conduct.
Brennaman filed for divorce in 2012.
"He just had a lot of demons or hatred inside of him," she said.
