SAN ANTONIO — June 30th was a day Regenia Houston had carefully planned. But there was a shocking development no one saw coming, not even master planner Regenia.
She and her siblings were getting ready to honor their mother Beatrice Houston's life at a funeral that day at Lily of the Valley Baptist Church at 11 am.
"I was just going over things, calling my family members, and making sure everything was good that morning," Regenia said.
The 45-year-old said she was trying to process the day in her mind when an unsettled argument began to brew up before 8 am with her partner Melvin Davis Jr.
According to Regenia, the disagreement was about who could come to the house they shared at 2200 Burnet Street. She has since moved.
Regenia recalls being in their bathroom when she said Davis grabbed her.
"We were stuck between the shower and the commode," she said.
The mother of four and grandmother of six said she started the fight for her life.
"And you're fighting---and you are pushing the gun, and you're moving," she said. "Pushing him. You're biting. You're doing whatever you need to do."
David, she said, had her in a headlock with a .22 to her head. The gun, Regenia said, was new.
The former Judson ISD teacher said they would go to the gun range as a couple. Firearms were safely a part of their lives, she said.
But the only shield she recalls that morning was grace from her God.
"He just let off the first shot. I dropped to the floor," she said. "And then he let off the second shot. And I just laid there."
The son the two share came into the room, she said. Regenia remembers seeing her son's feet, his cell phone falling to the floor, and hearing gunfire again.
The couple's 18-year-old son looked at his parents suffering from gunshot wounds. Davis, his father, was nearly lifeless, but his mother was still alive and able.
"I got up," Regenia said. "I ran down the steps."
Instead of allowing others to take the lead, Regenia said she calmly started supervising. She asked her son to call his sisters. Then, she asked her brother to call 911.
"Tell them the threat is down. They can send an ambulance," she recalled. "Maybe one dead, and I'm shot in the head twice."
Davis did not survive. Regenia got taken to the hospital, where doctors were amazed how not one bullet penetrated her skull. Instead, she said the physicians said one got lost in fatty tissue.
"Both of my bullets were back here in the back," Regenia said. "One bullet came through, came in my neck right here, went through the underarm, and shot somewhere in a wall. And the other was lost in the back part of my head."
As family members went on with her mother's funeral, as Regenia requested, she underwent surgery. The longtime educator was out of the hospital by Monday. The shooting happened on Thursday.
She made peace with not being able to attend her mother's funeral. By the end of the week, Regenia went to Davis' services. Disappointed but still in love.
"I never knew that it would go this far," she said. "Melvin knows we could have talked about this."
She believes their underlying issue was an unaddressed mental health issue her partner did not want to confront.
San Antonio Police called the matter a domestic dispute, but the job developer for the 100 Black Men of San Antonio's Youth Build doesn't like that classification. She said the incident, although potentially deadly, was isolated.
"He was trying to kill me. So, I don't doubt that at all," she said. "People can label it whichever way they want to label it. And I know that it was out there--- that I was getting beat or whatever like that. No, not once. Not once."
The shooting did impact her physically. Light sensitivity means Regenia has to wear shades all day on sunny days. She has to deal with nervous system challenges and the trauma of what happened.
"I don't know the takeaway from my story yet," she said.
Regenia does want anyone wrestling with mental health issues to get help. And she is sure her God kept her here for a reason---and she's searching for the answer.
"I know that I have a covering over me. I know this," she said. "My purpose now is to find out, Lord, why (do) you have me here. What do you want me to do?"
For the first time, she's not caregiving for her mother. Her partner of nearly two decades is gone---leaving her with plenty of what she calls "Genia time."
"Let's see where the next step takes us," she said. "I'm ready."