A 59-year-old Marco Island woman is being held in a maximum security psychiatric hospital after Maryland authorities say she shot and killed her ex-husband and then attempted to run away when her 16-year-old daughter called police.

Despite his gunshot wounds, Baltimore County police say Ronald Gene Koontz, 66, caught up to his ex-wife, Mary Kay Koontz, and held her on the ground until officers arrived. Ronald Gene Koontz died Friday afternoon.

Mary Koontz, who lives at 591 Seaview Court, No. 111, in the gated South Seas Club on Marco Island, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. If convicted, she could face up to life in prison.

Around 6:15 a.m. on Friday, Baltimore County police say Mary Koontz opened fire on her ex-husband with a handgun, shooting him multiple times in the upper body. Baltimore County police spokesman Bill Toohey said Ronald Koontz’s home is in a “comfortable residential community.”

“The daughter ran to a closet and called 911,” Toohey said. “Mrs. Koontz then ran from the home. Mr. Koontz, even though he had been shot, chased after her.”

When officers arrived, Ronald Koontz was on top of his ex-wife holding her so she could not run, Toohey said.

“We really don’t have a motive,” Toohey said.

Ronald Koontz was transported to a University of Maryland trauma center where he died of his gunshot wounds Friday afternoon. The couple’s 16-year-old daughter, whose name has not been released, was not injured in the shooting, and is being cared for by Maryland social services, Toohey said.

Mary Koontz was taken to a Maryland hospital for a psychological evaluation because her behavior indicated a severe emotional problem, Toohey said. On Monday she was transferred to Maryland’s maximum security forensic psychiatric hospital, which takes patients who have been accused of felonies and whose competency to stand trial is in question.

The Northeast Booster, a publication of the Baltimore Sun, reported that Ronald Koontz, an employee of Baltimore County Public Schools since 1966, had gone to a Circuit Court in Baltimore County seeking an emergency psychological evaluation for his wife in 2007 and the request was granted.

No one answered the door to Mary Koontz’s condo in the South Seas North building on Monday afternoon. Few neighbors are residing in the building over the summer.

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