HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A man was sentenced last week to 40 years in prison for killing his wife with a nail gun in Cypress, Texas, in early 2022, officials say.

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Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced on Thursday that Lam Ngoc Tran, 65, was sentenced to 40 years in prison. He was convicted of murdering his wife, My Thai Dang, 49, in their house in Cypress on Jan. 10, 2022.

When deputies arrived at the house they found Dang deceased, according to KTRK. At the scene investigators determined that she was beaten to death with a heavy pneumatic nail gun.

“This is a horrible murder, and it reinforces that the most dangerous time for a battered spouse is when they are trying to leave the relationship,” Ogg said in the news release. “This woman was trying to get away from an abusive husband, and the only reason she is dead is because he could not stand to lose control of her.”

Officials say that Tran reportedly tried to himself by shooting himself the nail gun multiple times after he killed Dang, KTRK reported. He was taken an area hospital by Life Flight.

The District Attorney’s Office said Tran also sent “goodbye” texts to loved ones before he attempted to commit suicide.

“They had been married six or seven years and things had escalated into a cycle of domestic violence,” Assistant District Attorney Matthew Magill said, in the news release. “They were scheduled for a hearing for a protective order the very next day, and his response was that if he couldn’t be with her, no one would.”