The probable cause account says Alanna Dawn Bilbo fired after her boyfriend yelled for her to shoot him.
ALTO, Texas — Court records in a Cherokee County assault case say a woman shot her live-in boyfriend between the eyes and in the back of the neck after a relationship argument Monday evening near Alto.
The probable cause account is the clearest public record of the allegation against 33-year-old Alanna Dawn Bilbo. She is charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury to a person in a relationship. The document describes a short, violent sequence at a home on County Road 2813: an argument, a challenge from the victim, one shot from a .22 caliber revolver and then a second shot as the victim turned away holding his face.
Deputies with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office arrived around 7 p.m. after a shooting was reported. The case was first reported as an accident, Sheriff Brent Dickson later said. Detectives then spoke with Bilbo after she was advised of her rights. She told them she and her live-in boyfriend had been in a verbal argument about their relationship, according to the charging account. The public record does not describe the full argument, what started it, how long it lasted or whether either person tried to leave before the gunfire.
The probable cause statement says Bilbo was standing in the doorway of the residence while the man stood outside in front of the stairway. Investigators said he yelled for her to shoot him. The document says she did, firing a .22 caliber revolver and striking him between the eyes. After that shot, the man turned left and held his face with his hands, according to the sheriff’s account. Bilbo then allegedly fired again, hitting him in the back of the neck. Authorities have not said how many total rounds were in the revolver or whether more than two shots were fired.
The victim was flown to a hospital in Tyler after the shooting. Dickson said he was in stable condition as of Tuesday. Officials have not released the man’s name, age or detailed prognosis. They also have not said whether he was conscious when deputies arrived, whether he spoke at the scene, or whether investigators later interviewed him at the hospital. Those details could matter because the victim’s account may help prosecutors establish what happened in the moments before the shots and whether any statement from the scene matches the physical evidence. The records also show the court’s first response after Bilbo’s arrest. She was held in the Cherokee County Jail on $150,000 bond. A magistrate judge issued a protective order barring her from contacting the victim for three months and prohibiting her from possessing a firearm. The order sets immediate conditions while the felony case is pending. It does not resolve the charge or determine guilt. Public reports did not include a plea, an indictment or a statement from a defense attorney.
Dickson said both Bilbo and the victim were allegedly using drugs at the time of the shooting. The public reports do not identify the alleged drugs or say whether any substance was found in the home. They also do not state whether investigators requested toxicology tests. That leaves the drug allegation as part of the sheriff’s early description, not a separate charge in the accounts reviewed. Prosecutors could later decide whether the allegation is relevant to motive, state of mind, witness reliability or the sequence of events described in court.
The charge is framed around serious bodily injury and the relationship between the suspect and the victim. In Texas assault cases, that relationship can affect how prosecutors describe the offense and what protective measures a court may impose. Here, the public record identifies the man as Bilbo’s live-in boyfriend and says the argument was about their relationship. Authorities have not released information about any earlier calls to the same residence, any prior protective orders, or any documented history between the two. The available record begins with the Monday evening shooting call.
The location adds another layer to the public record. County Road 2813 is in the Alto area of Cherokee County, a small East Texas community in the Piney Woods region. The residence was not described as an apartment complex, business or public gathering place. The alleged shooting happened at the couple’s home, with the man outside by the stairs and Bilbo at the doorway. That setting may make scene photographs, door placement, stairway location and bullet trajectory important if the case moves into a contested hearing or trial.
Several facts remain unknown from the records released so far. Authorities have not said who called 911, who first described the shooting as an accident, whether Bilbo claimed the gun fired unintentionally, or whether she gave any explanation for the second shot. They also have not said whether the victim’s injuries will lead prosecutors to adjust or add charges. The existing charge already alleges serious bodily injury, and the victim’s stable condition means the case is not being handled as a homicide based on the available public accounts.
For now, the case rests on the probable cause statement, the sheriff’s public comments and the court’s early restrictions. Bilbo remains jailed under a $150,000 bond, and the victim’s latest reported condition was stable in Tyler. The next milestone is expected when prosecutors file the next formal court action in Cherokee County.
Author note: Last updated June 18, 2026.