Family trouble led to tragedy
Woman killed daughters to hurt husband, investigators say
Christy Sheats’ intentions were clear to her husband when she pulled out the gun in the midst of a hurriedly called family meeting.
She wanted him to suffer for the rest of his life. And he will. The 45-year-old father told investigators his wife gunned down his two beloved daughters in front of him last week amid tensions that their rocky marriage was headed for divorce.
It was her choice, Jason Sheats said, that he survived the carnage last Friday.
“He felt Christy wanted him to suffer,” Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls said Wednesday, after speaking with the distraught father. “Mr. Sheats stated Christy knew how much he loved Taylor and Madison and how much they loved him.”
The father’s statements to the sheriff and other investigators may have provided the final answers in the brutal case that has horrified Texas and the nation. A private funeral will be held Tuesday in Katy for Taylor, 22, and Madison, 17, and their mother is ex-
“It’s just important that your thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Sheats … He will have to live the rest of his life with this horrible memory.” Scott Heinemeyer, Fort Bend County sheriff ’s detective
pected to be buried in Alabama. Only Jason Sheats remains. “He did state that she accomplished what she set out to do — and that is to make him suffer,” said sheriff ’s Detective Scott Heinemeyer, who is conducting the investigation.
“It’s just important that your thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Sheats. … He will have to live the rest of his life with this horrible memory.” Mental health problems
Christy Sheats had a history of mental health problems, and had been hospitalized three times after trying to kill herself, the sheriff said.
She had been treated for depression, was taking medication and had been seeing a therapist.
Her symptoms emerged in 2012 after the death of a grandfather she idolized — and from whom she inherited the fiveshot, .38-caliber handgun used to kill her children. Her mother died two months later.
Christy Sheats lost her job the same year and had been drinking heavily, though officials say they aren’t sure if she was drinking the day of the shooting.
Calls for help from the home were not uncommon.
Of more than a dozen calls to 911 from the home in the past four years, three sought help for suicide attempts, one for a possible suicide attempt and one for a verbal altercation, Nehls said.
None of the calls, however, offered any insight that Christy Sheats would be at risk of harming anyone but herself.
The marriage began to deteriorate about the same time, however, the husband said. The grandfather had been a role model to her and practically raised her, and his death hit her very hard.
“(Jason and Christy) were married for 20-plus years,” Heinemeyer said. “After her grandfather passed away in 2012, ( Jason) referred to their marriage as more or less a downward spiral.”
The couple had been separated multiple times, and there were “talks of divorce,” Nehls said.
On Friday, however, the family was all living together in the home near Fulshear in the Katy area of north Fort Bend County. ‘Please don’t shoot my family’
When Christy Sheats called the family meeting Friday, her husband assumed she was going to tell their children about the impending divorce.
He and the daughters met her in the living room, and she pulled the gun almost immediately.
Two 911 calls placed by Madison and Taylor captured the escalating family crisis, with screams and shouts as Jason Sheats and his daughters begged Christy Sheats not to pull the trigger.
“Please. Please, don’t shoot my family,” he shouted. “I’m sorry ... I’m sorry.”
Christy Sheats fired a bullet at each of the girls, but Jason Sheats told investigators he managed to make his way around the couch unharmed and help his daughters get out of the house.
Madison collapsed outside the home, and Jason Sheats made it to the end of the cul de sac. Christy Sheats shot Taylor one more time, leaving both daughters laying wounded on the concrete of their suburban neighborhood.
Witnesses said Jason appeared to try encouraging his daughters to escape their mother, as neighbors guided him to safety, officials told reporters at Wednesday’s news conference.
Jason Sheats told investigators that his wife had ample time to kill him if she wanted to, but she instead prolonged the event and went after their daughters.
She wanted to make him witness the brutal deaths of his children, Nehls said.
At one point, she stood over the girls and tried to shoot with an empty gun. Then she went inside, reloaded, and came outside to shoot Taylor one more time.
She was shot and killed by a Fulshear police officer, who arrived as she was firing the final shot. Officials said she was told to put down her gun and refused, and seemed to be advancing toward the officers.
Madison and her mother died at the scene. Taylor died later at a local hospital.
Jason Sheats was not injured in the shooting, and he told the sheriff it wasn’t clear if she even tried to shoot him.
She apparently had fired three more times into the family home, however. Three bullet holes remain in the walls, Nehls said.
Tensions had also been building between Taylor and her mother, investigators said.
Christy Sheats had a verbal argument with Taylor on Friday, and, as a result of the fight, threatened to ground her from seeing her boyfriend.
The young couple had planned to marry on Monday in a small service, with a larger celebration to be held when she finished college, Jason Sheats’ mother said on Facebook.
Jason Sheats told investigators that he disagreed with Christy Sheats’ plans to ground her daughter, since Taylor was an adult.
The sheriff’s office wouldn’t disclose the nature of the relationship between mother and daughters, but officials said based on social media alone, it seemed “loving.”
Taylor was a student at Lone Star College-CyFair and was an accomplished artist who wanted to be a teacher. Against gun control
Christy Sheats was a public supporter of the Second Amendment, and had posted several memes on Facebook expressing anger at politicians who push for gun control. She said she needed a gun to protect her family.
Jason Sheats told investigators that his wife had previously applied for a license to carry a concealed weapon, but the application was denied. Officials are looking into whether the rejection was based on her history with mental illness.
But it wasn’t the only gun in the home; Nehls said there were multiple handguns.
As friends and family grieve, meanwhile, the investigation is continuing.
The sheriff ’s office is conducting forensic analysis on technological devices in the home to see if Christy Sheats had planned the shooting beforehand.