BELLVILLE A family dispute pushed Maron Thomas to go on a rampage marked by a fury so intense that he decapitated his 2-year-old niece with a machete after killing her and four other family members, Austin County investigators said Wednesday.
Thomas, 20, was charged Wednesday with capital murder in the shooting deaths of his mother, stepfather, sister, brother and his niece. He remains in the Austin County Jail with bail set at $1 million.
This is one of the most horrific crimes we've had in Austin County, District Attorney Travis Koehn said. Austin County is a safe place to live, but unfortunately, we are not immune to the same kinds of crimes that occur in other locations.
Koehn said he has not decided whether to seek the death penalty.
The massacre happened between midnight Saturday and 3 a.m. Sunday at the family's home 7 miles outside the Bellville city limits, on FM 1456 between Buckhorn and Cochran.
Thomas then allegedly burglarized a car and was arrested around 3 a.m. after being caught trying to break into a house a mile and a half away while he was naked, investigators said. A neighbor held him at gunpoint until deputies arrived and arrested him on burglary charges. When deputies arrived, he had put on a pair of exercise shorts.
Investigators declined to elaborate on the nature of the household dispute, but said a family fight happened on the night of the killings.
There was an ongoing internal situation within the dynamics of this family, said Texas Ranger David Maxwell.
Killed were Thomas' biological mother, Debra Phea
rse Washington, 54; stepfather, George T. Washington, 69; sister, Kiana Shree Phearse, 25; brother, Cedric Thomas, 19; and niece, Khalilah Chambers-Massey, who was Kiana Phearse's daughter. Contrary to prior reports, Kiana Phearse was not pregnant, Austin County Sheriff's Sgt. Paul Faircloth said.
Thomas' sister, Ka'Tara Price, 24, of Houston, said she believes anger and Thomas' conversion to the Muslim religion influenced his actions. She said she is not aware of him suffering from any mental illness.
Charge filed in Bellville slayings | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
Thomas, 20, was charged Wednesday with capital murder in the shooting deaths of his mother, stepfather, sister, brother and his niece. He remains in the Austin County Jail with bail set at $1 million.
This is one of the most horrific crimes we've had in Austin County, District Attorney Travis Koehn said. Austin County is a safe place to live, but unfortunately, we are not immune to the same kinds of crimes that occur in other locations.
Koehn said he has not decided whether to seek the death penalty.
The massacre happened between midnight Saturday and 3 a.m. Sunday at the family's home 7 miles outside the Bellville city limits, on FM 1456 between Buckhorn and Cochran.
Thomas then allegedly burglarized a car and was arrested around 3 a.m. after being caught trying to break into a house a mile and a half away while he was naked, investigators said. A neighbor held him at gunpoint until deputies arrived and arrested him on burglary charges. When deputies arrived, he had put on a pair of exercise shorts.
Investigators declined to elaborate on the nature of the household dispute, but said a family fight happened on the night of the killings.
There was an ongoing internal situation within the dynamics of this family, said Texas Ranger David Maxwell.
Killed were Thomas' biological mother, Debra Phea
rse Washington, 54; stepfather, George T. Washington, 69; sister, Kiana Shree Phearse, 25; brother, Cedric Thomas, 19; and niece, Khalilah Chambers-Massey, who was Kiana Phearse's daughter. Contrary to prior reports, Kiana Phearse was not pregnant, Austin County Sheriff's Sgt. Paul Faircloth said.
Thomas' sister, Ka'Tara Price, 24, of Houston, said she believes anger and Thomas' conversion to the Muslim religion influenced his actions. She said she is not aware of him suffering from any mental illness.
Charge filed in Bellville slayings | Houston & Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
