Pregnant wife ‘executed’ after discovering her husband’s sexting
Summer Tatum was five months along when she was shot in the head
After moving into a new house with her husband, and with their first baby on the way, Summer Tatum was excited about the new phase in her life and was preparing her home for all the changes. Her baby boy’s due date was four months away, but she had already bought him a wardrobe full of clothes.
Before becoming pregnant, Summer, 26, had been focused on her career. She met her husband, Hunter Tatum, while they both studied to be radiologists. Summer wanted to be in the medical field, but she had mild cerebral palsy, which caused weakness down one side of her body. A radiology technician role was a perfect fit for her. After qualifying, she found a job in a medical centre and Tatum worked in a hospital.
It was October 2021, and Summer had been married to Tatum for two years. They were living in Prattville, Alabama and she was five months pregnant with a boy who she had planned to name Everett. Summer had kept everyone updated about the imminent arrival on social media. “We are so excited to meet our baby boy!” she had written, and shared that while the pregnancy had been hard, she felt “so blessed”.
But just after midnight on 18 October, Tatum dialled 911 from the family home and told the call handler that he’d hurt his pregnant wife. When officers arrived at the scene, Tatum made the shocking confession that he had shot Summer with a handgun. “It’s all my fault,” he said, as he was put in handcuffs.
Summer was found alive, but moaning in a pool of blood in the master bedroom. “Ma’am, where are you shot?” an officer asked, trying to get her to communicate, but Summer was unresponsive.
The young mum-to-be had been shot twice in the back of the head. A half-packed suitcase lay on the bedroom floor. There were so many questions, but the fight to save Summer and her unborn baby was the priority.
Summer was rushed to hospital and placed on life support. Doctors did an emergency caesarean and delivered her son, but tragically, Summer died soon afterwards. Everett was taken to the neonatal intensive care unit but sadly he only survived a few hours. Tatum was in custody – his wife and their baby both dead.
Police questioned Tatum about what had happened. Sometimes he spoke in a calm voice and other times he broke down. He said that he and Summer had argued, and they’d fought over a gun that she’d grabbed from her bedside drawer. He claimed he was scared for his life and that they struggled over the weapon which went off. “I know I shot her,” Tatum said. “I just don’t know where or how many times.”
Investigators discovered what Summer and her husband had been arguing about.
Tatum was having an online affair with a woman in the UK. Two days before she died, Summer discovered texts of a sexual nature on his phone. Summer found out that Tatum and the woman had been communicating through his games console. Although he hadn’t met her, the sexting was betrayal enough.
Before Summer was shot, she’d angrily put the console in a sink full of water as a desperate display of her outrage. He was cheating while their first baby was close to arriving. Tatum said his wife had threatened
‘I know I shot her, I just don’t know where or how many times’
him, but was his version of events true?
During the investigation, the police learnt that Summer’s final moments had been captured on their home surveillance footage. She could be heard pleading with her husband.
“I’ll stay, I’ll stay,” she cried. “I’ll do anything you want. Don’t hurt me, please. Don’t hurt our baby. Please don’t hurt our baby.” Tatum could be heard replying, “No. Get away from me.” Then two gunshots followed, three seconds apart.
A neighbour’s surveillance camera had been pointing towards the bedroom window and, with the blinds open, it had captured
Tatum dragging his wife’s bleeding body across the floor. While Tatum did call the emergency services, he didn’t make any attempts to save his pregnant wife or the baby. Tatum was charged with two counts of murder and told he was facing a possible death penalty. He pleaded not guilty.
With Tatum behind bars waiting for his case to come to court, Summer’s loved ones mourned her and Everett’s shocking deaths. They’d been preparing to celebrate the arrival of new life and now they were planning two funerals. At Tatum’s trial this year, his defence team continued to claim that the shooting had been self-defence because Summer had been threatening him with a gun during their argument and had allegedly shouted,
“You don’t deserve to live.” However, this wasn’t heard on any surveillance footage.
The 38-calibre revolver belonged to Summer and there were other guns in the house. Tatum’s lawyers said he was fearful for his life and had tried to wrestle the gun from her – aware that there were more guns she could have gone for. But the recordings of a terrified Summer begging for her life were played again and they told a very different story.
Her loved ones cried quietly as her desperate cries were heard in court. Tatum put his fingers in his ears to try to block out hearing Summer’s last moments again, as she begged him to spare her life and the life of their baby boy.
Prosecutors said Tatum had killed his wife in a fit of rage when his online sexting affair was exposed. She was in the middle of packing a bag and wanted to leave. Rather than wrestling with the gun, Tatum had been standing behind Summer as she knelt down, and he had shot her execution-style, firing two bullets into the back of her head in quick succession. Summer had been facing away from her husband when he’d pulled the trigger.
Tatum was facing the death penalty so before the closing arguments, he made a last-minute plea deal to avoid execution. He pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and in June, Tatum, now 26, was sentenced to serve two consecutive 99-year sentences – 198 years in prison for killing his wife and their unborn baby.