Girlfriend of former Tarrant County judge won't be indicted in connection to 2023 death

TARRANT COUNTY – The girlfriend of a former Tarrant County judge will not be indicted in connection to his 2023 murder.

On June 26, a Tarrant County grand jury declined to indict Kami Ludwig on the murder charge in connection to the overdose death of William Shane Nolen. She was, however, indicted on two counts of possession of a controlled substance.

"We are grateful to the grand jury for their careful review of this case, which led to the decision not to indict my client on a fentanyl murder charge," Tiffany Burks, Ludwig's attorney, said. "Any drug overdose resulting in death is a tragedy. We continue to extend our deepest condolences to the friends and family mourning the loss of former Judge Shane Nolen."

Grapevine police say they found Nolen, 47, dead in his bed just before 5 a.m. on Nov. 27. Investigators initially believed the woman he was dating at the time, Ludwig, 34, was responsible for giving him the deadly pills.

When police arrived at the home, an arrest warrant affidavit says paramedics described Ludwig as "extremely emotional as well as erratic in her behavior."

A detective wrote that he found "one blue M-30 pill lying on the stairs" of the house, "numerous pills strewn about on the floor," and "other plastic baggies housing additional pills."

Nolen's 9-year-old son was also in the home at the time.

Police arrested Ludwig on drug possession charges and continued investigating. She then bailed out of jail after posting a $50,000 bond.

Over two months after his death, Grapevine police charged Ludwig with murder, saying she supplied the pills that killed him.

They said an alleged source for pills sent her a text reading "getting harder to get pills get while you can."

Five days after Nolen's death, a package from Louisiana showed up at his house, addressed to Ludwig, containing dozens of pills believed to be Xanax.

Nolen was an associate judge in Tarrant County in 2019 but was fired after a lawsuit alleged he didn't cooperate in a personal case involving the welfare of his son.

He had been working in private practice as an attorney in Colleyville.