Sheriff didn’t pursue sex case against Texas church gunman
2013 assault investigation ‘stalled’
HOUSTON – Sheriff’s deputies didn’t pursue a sexual assault investigation against the gunman in a mass shooting at a Texas church, even though the woman reporting it signed a complaint detailing the alleged attack, according to records released Friday.
The records also contradict the reason previously given for why the case stalled against Devin Patrick Kelley, four years before the November 2017 massacre at a tiny church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
Had Kelley been prosecuted for sexual assault, a conviction could have stopped a trail of violent allegations that culminated in the shooting.
Authorities acknowledged Friday that the alleged victim was not given a forensic exam in June 2013 after reporting the assault, which she said had occurred three days earlier. And the investigation was listed as inactive because a detective at the Comal County Sheriff’s Office couldn’t contact Kelley, thinking he had moved. It remained inactive even after deputies were called to Kelley’s home in February 2014 to investigate a separate domestic violence complaint against him.
“This was an error on the part of the sheriff’s office,” Comal County Sheriff Mark Reynolds told The Associated Press on Friday.
Kelley shot and killed 25 people on Nov. 5 at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. Authorities have put the official death toll at 26, because one of the victims was pregnant. Kelley died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after being shot and chased by two residents when he was leaving the church, authorities have said.
By that time, Kelley had been court-martialed and removed from the Air Force on allegations that he abused his then-wife and a child. The following year, deputies were called to his home to investigate a domestic violence .
The records released Friday include a handwritten statement from the woman who accused Kelley of sexual assault.
The statement is dated June 18, 2013.
But the released records also include Comal County detective Chris Garza’s timeline of the case that says he left three voicemails for the alleged victim between July 2013 and September 2013.
In an Oct. 7, 2013, letter, Garza told the victim that she had not returned his messages and that he needed her cooperation.
Reynolds said Friday that deputies eventually spoke to the victim in October. Garza then tried to contact Kelley, but was unsuccessful, and that the investigation “stalled,” Reynolds said.