‘She shot herself,’ a Rodeo man allegedly said of his girlfriend’s death. But her own words in a restraining order described domestic violence

RODEO — Months before she was allegedly shot and killed by her boyfriend, 20-year-old Leeasia Futch penned a restraining order request seeking protection from him for violence and threats, court records show.

The emergency order application — dropped weeks later after Futch failed to follow up on it in court — accuses 19-year-old Joseph Sullivan of domestic violence against Futch and threatening that he’d “call my brothers and we are going to pull up to your house,” Futch wrote. The application was written on July 6, 2023, roughly seven months before Sullivan allegedly killed Futch inside his home on the 1200 block of Trigger Road in Rodeo, court records show.

“He slapped me, strangled me, bit me, hit me, broke my phone, used profanity calling me names and would not let me go home,” Futch wrote in the restraining order request.

The request doesn’t say exactly when the alleged domestic violence happened, but describes Sullivan as a person Futch “used to date.” Police say they responded to a domestic violence call in Rodeo in July 2023.

Prosecutors charged Sullivan with murder in Futch’s death, despite his explanation that she shot herself in the neck. He was also charged with two misdemeanors for allegedly resisting arresting police on Feb. 20 — the night of the alleged homicide — and is being held in lieu of $2 million bail, records show.

Police were called to the Trigger Road home at around 10:40 p.m. on Feb. 20 by Sullivan’s mother, who reported hearing a gunshot and screaming on her home security camera, while she was out running an errand. When she called Sullivan he said, “she shot herself,” prompting the mother to call 911, police said.

But when investigators got there, the gun that killed Futch wasn’t readily available. Police scoured the area, eventually locating a magazine for a Glock pistol inside the home. The slide for a Glock pistol was found behind the residence by a police dog, authorities said.

Sullivan has pleaded not guilty, and was held to answer on all charges after his March preliminary hearing. That clears the way for a possible trial, at a to-be-determined date. Sullivan’s next court date has been set for mid-April, records show.