EP. 128 TEXAS - She Killed Her Kids In The Street: Christy Sheats, The Killer Mom
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Warning. The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned.

Social media can be deceiving. We all know that. When we scroll on Instagram or Facebook, we often see the highlights of people's lives. Pictures of a new car someone just bought, a better paying job they were offered, or how their child got accepted into a respected university. It can sometimes feel like social media is a big pissing contest on who has the better life.

But you hardly ever see people airing out their dirty laundry. When's the last time you saw someone posting about how their husband had an affair or that they just filed for bankruptcy? That's the thing about social media. All of these people can look so put together on the outside when in reality, their lives are falling apart.

And that's the case for the story we have for you today. Christy Sheets of Houston, Texas seemed to have an ideal life. She was well-off, pretty, she had a husband, two grown and beautiful daughters. And if you were to have looked at her social media, you'd have no idea that there were issues beneath the surface. But in June of 2016, her husband Jason mentioned divorce.

And afterwards, she would call a family meeting in their living room. But this was not your average family meeting. Because soon enough, right in front of her husband, Christy Sheets would pull out a gun and murder their two daughters in cold blood. So, this is their story. I'm Courtney Brown. And I'm Colin Brown. And you're listening to Murder in America. Murder in America

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Christy Byrd Sheets was born on May 2nd, 1974 in Decatur, Alabama. She attended Austin High School there, and according to the people that knew her, she was an outgoing person who always had a lot of friends. She was considered pretty popular among her peers. After high school, she would move away from home and attend Bowder College in Atlanta, Georgia. And while she was there, she received an Associate's of Arts degree in Business Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services.

Christy worked hard throughout this time of her life and it seemed like she had a really promising future. And to make matters even better, in 1993, she met the love of her life, a man named Jason Sheets. Jason was born on June 24th, 1971 in Trinity, Alabama. And although they didn't know each other growing up, their hometowns were just 15 minutes apart from one another.

Now, Jason would go on to graduate from East Lawrence High School in 1989, where he had been a standout baseball player. His former coach, Don Smith, said, He was intelligent and the best pitcher I ever coached. Jason went on to attend Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he continued to play baseball and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics. And he graduated magna cum laude in 1993. Now, after college graduation, Jason returned to his native state of Alabama, and that's where he met young Christy Byrd.

According to their friends and family, Christy and Jason immediately knew that they were going to end up together as soon as they met. It really was love at first sight. The two started officially dating in 1993, and from that moment on, they were inseparable.

Soon enough, they would tie the knot and not long after their marriage, Christy found out she was pregnant with a little girl. They would welcome their daughter into the world on April 19th, 1994 and they named her Taylor Ashton Sheets. Life was going really well for them after her birth.

They seemed like the perfect family. And it would only get more perfect when five years later, on October 21st, 1998, their second daughter, Madison Tyler Sheets, was born. Jason and Christy were described as amazing parents who were very devoted to their girls.

and from the outside looking in they really did appear to be the perfect family. Kristy was beautiful. She had this platinum blonde hair with really bright eyes and she kind of looks like the Long Island medium if you know who that is. Kristy was also very active on her social media. Her Instagram was @TexasBamaGirl and it's still up today.

Her bio read, quote, huge Bama fan that now calls the great Lone Star State home. However, my heart will always remain in my home state of Alabama. Roll Tide, y'all.

On her Instagram and Facebook, Christy posted a lot about her daughters. And from what everyone could tell, they were a very tight-knit family. Taylor and Madison had a five-year age difference, but they were like best friends. People that knew their families said that Christy was so excited about becoming a mom, and she was very thankful for the relationship she and her daughters had.

and her social media was filled with loving messages towards them. She constantly posted status updates and pictures, reminding everyone of just how much she loved her family. On September 25th, 2015, Christy posted a picture of her daughters on Facebook and captioned it, quote, Happy Daughters Day to my two amazing, sweet, kind, beautiful, intelligent girls."

I love and treasure you both more than you could ever possibly know.

Three years earlier on Mother's Day, May 12th, 2013, Christy's eldest daughter Taylor posted a picture of her mom from her childhood and wrote, quote, "'Mom, you are so selfless as you always put your whole family ahead of yourself and you never ask for anything in return. You are so kind and loving as you always remind us of just how much you care and how proud you are of everything we do.'"

You are so intelligent and fun to be around because I feel like I can talk to you forever now about anything. You're one of the strongest people I know, if not the strongest. And you have had to overcome so much in your life but you still manage to love us and put your everything into being a mom. You're so encouraging as you always push us to do our absolute best.

Even when we can't muster up the strength to do it ourselves, you're such a blessing to have had a mother and a friend, and I truly appreciate you and all that you do. Happy Mother's Day to my amazing mommy, and I love you. End quote. Christy responded to the post, quote, Thank you, Taylor, for such sweet words. I'm truly honored and thankful to be your mom. I am so proud of you, and I love you so very much. End quote.

22-year-old Taylor Sheets graduated from Seven Lakes High School in 2012, and she was described as an outstanding student and athlete. She was a member of the National Honor Society, Future Healthcare Professionals, and she played softball during her freshman and sophomore year. In 2015, she graduated with honors from Lone Star College with an associate's degree, and at the time of our story, she had recently enrolled at the University of Houston to pursue her dream of working in the medical field as a medical diagnostic sonographer.

Taylor was known for her great sense of humor, independent personality, and excellent artistic ability. She was an accomplished artist who loved sketching portraits, cartoons, and doing replications. She wanted to become a professional artist one day, and she was constantly creating art so that she would accomplish that goal. Taylor and her friend Chris Mascoro would actually work together for this photo booth business, where she made photo albums and scrapbooks for his clients. In an interview with Time Magazine, Chris said she had a plan and she knew exactly what she was doing.

Her friends also said that Taylor had a huge heart for children.

When she wasn't in school or creating art, Taylor would nanny for children in her community, and they all absolutely loved her. By 2016, she had even taken a full-time job as a teacher at a local childcare center called Kids Are Kids, where she taught three- and four-year-olds. In her classroom, she decorated the walls with her artwork and always encouraged the children to use their creativity and imagination. Then, after a long day of childcare, she would go to her nannying job. So, as you can see, she had a huge heart, and she was a really hard worker.

Now, at the time of our story, Taylor was engaged to a man named Juan Sebastian Lugo. The two had dated for nearly five years, and you could tell that they were really happy together. Taylor's posts on social media often showed the young couple in love, and it was clear that they were really looking forward to spending the rest of their lives together. And everyone was so excited for their wedding, which was set for June 27th, 2016.

As for Christy's other daughter, 17-year-old Madison Sheets, she was a senior at Seven Lakes High School, with her entire life ahead of her. Just like her sister, Madison was also a very hard worker. She was a member of the National Honor Society and the Spanish National Honor Society. Her friends and family described her as intelligent and kind-hearted.

Madison enjoyed volunteering in her community through her high school's organization called Spartans Outserving. And Madison was also known to babysit and dog sit for a ton of people in her community. She always jumped at the opportunity to accept these jobs so she could make some extra money for herself. And like her older sister, Madison was also a skilled artist. It was something they bonded over growing up.

Throughout their childhood, Madison would often wake up early and make breakfast with everyone. They all shared a love of cooking, but more importantly, they loved spending quality time together as a family. On October 19th, 2010, Madison wrote on Facebook, "My mom and dad have made me laugh, wiped my tears, hugged me tight,

"watched me succeed, seen me fall, cheered me on, kept me going strong, and drove me crazy at times. Mom and dads are a promise from God that you will have a friend forever. I love you, mom and dad." End quote. Her mom, Christie, responded, "Aww, I love you too, so very much. We will forever be best friends, my sweet baby. You are the sweetest child a mother could ever hope to have." End quote.

So as you can see, Christy and her daughters were very close and they seem to have had a great relationship. Now by 2016, the Sheets were living at 6011 Remsen Hollow Lane, a two-story brick home in the quiet suburb of Westheimer Lakes, which is about 45 minutes outside of Houston, Texas. And by all appearances, they were the perfect all-American family.

They had a nice home, nice cars, they were attractive, and they were very tight-knit. But behind closed doors, there were some issues that no one really knew about.

Now, before we get into all of that, it's important for us to walk you through Christie Sheets' work history. Throughout her life, she worked a number of different jobs, including as a marketing assistant, executive assistant, and hairstylist. But in 2005, she decided to put her skills to the test and open up a business of her own. She named it Patches and Pink Pickles.

Now, we're not exactly able to figure out what that company was or what it offered, but she would own it for eight years, up until 2013. Then, in January of 2015, Christie took a part-time position as a receptionist at a tattoo removal company called Clean Canvas Lizard Tattoo Removal in Houston, Texas. The owner, John Hollis, admitted that he was drawn to Christie's personality and the way she presented herself.

He said,

John, her boss, compared her mood swings to peaks and valleys. And he said after just a few weeks of working there, it was clear that Christy was very erratic.

Before John Hollis ever even hired Christy, she told him that she was having problems in her marriage and that she and Jason were going to get divorced. She also said that she was living by herself in an apartment a few blocks away from their family home. Now, she never mentioned exactly why she and Jason were divorcing, but because of this, her boss was pretty forgiving when it came to Christy's moodiness.

Of course, anyone going through a divorce would be a little moody from time to time. But interestingly enough, a few months into her working there, Christy suddenly changed her story. One day, John struck up a conversation with her and asked her how her divorce was going. And she basically said, what are you talking about? We aren't getting divorced. We were just separated for a little while, but everything's going good now.

And this was sort of a red flag for him. In an interview with People magazine, John said, Now, Christy would only end up working there for about five months.

but she seemed to have a lot of issues with her boss and coworkers. On top of being moody, it was said that she was very inconsistent with her attendance, and she was even caught lying on her LinkedIn business profile. On her account, she listed herself as the company's manager, even though she was only the receptionist.

She also listed a ton of responsibilities she said she did as the business's manager, all of which weren't true. Christy worked there 25 hours a week, and her only responsibilities were to answer the phones and book appointments.

In addition, she started working there in January of 2015, but on her profile she put January of 2014, making it seem like she had worked there a whole extra year. So, as you can see, when her boss saw all of this, he was a little disappointed, and I'm sure it made him question everything Christy had told him.

Now, he did confront her about all of this, and Christy told him that she would correct all of the false information in her LinkedIn profile, but she never did. John would end up confronting her several more times about it, but soon enough, it was clear Christy wasn't going to change it. So by May of 2015, this coupled with her poor attendance, Christy was finally fired from her job.

Her boss would tell People magazine, She was understanding. There were a lot of things that couldn't be argued, like, you missed work twice last week, you didn't call, you didn't show up. It was always something. But despite her failed career, there had always been something in Christy's life that she was proud of. Her marriage to Jason and their two beautiful daughters, Madison and Taylor, they were her pride and joy. But sadly, even that part of her life wasn't doing very well.

She and Jason had been having problems for a while, and it all started around 2012, after the death of Christy's grandfather. Now, there isn't a ton of information out there about this specific part of her upbringing, but it's known that Christy grew up in a single-parent household, so she spent a lot of time with her grandfather. He was like a second parent to her, and they were extremely close. So on June 7th, 2012, when he passed away, Christy was devastated. In

In an honorary Facebook post, she wrote,

After his passing, Christy fell into a deep depression. And to make matters worse, Christy's mother, Rebecca Marie Bird, also passed away just two months after her grandfather. So this was a very traumatic time for her. On August 27th, 2012, Christy posted a message to her Facebook account that read, "'It still doesn't seem real that my mom and grandfather are gone.'"

I'm in grief counseling now and it's really helping me get through this time. Now to deal with all of this loss and grief, Christy was put on numerous depression and anxiety medications, but none of them seemed to help. And her friends and family said that following this, Christy was an entirely different person.

She became prone to extreme mood swings that would often make her isolate herself from everyone for weeks on end. Her husband Jason said that after the death of her grandpa, Christy was on a quote downward spiral and unfortunately within just a couple of years, she would try to take her life three separate times.

With every failed suicide attempt, Christy would be admitted into a mental health care facility where she would stay and get treated for a few days and then she would be released. But the cycle just continued.

Christy clearly wasn't getting any better, so to further numb the pain, she started to drink heavily on top of her medications, which only made things worse. On her Instagram, she posted a picture that read, quote, pain makes you stronger, tears make you braver, a broken heart makes you wiser, and alcohol makes you not remember any of that crap.

But Christie's alcoholism was clearly a huge issue, especially when it came to her marriage.

From 2012 to 2016, the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office was called to their home 14 times for a variety of different reasons. Three of those calls were from Christy's suicide attempts. Some were medical calls. There was one from a crisis intervention team and there were also calls for domestic disputes between her and Jason.

But regardless of the reason, when the police are having to respond that many times, there are clearly some issues going on there. But no one realized just how serious these issues really were.

Jason would later say that he tried his best to console his wife throughout her mental health crisis, but she often pushed him away and told him he would never understand the level of pain she felt. And by October of 2014, their marriage had really taken a blow. So much so, they separated for a while. And this is when Christy was living at that apartment, a couple of blocks away from their house. If you were to have looked on her social media back then, you'd see that she wasn't very private about she and Jason's separation.

In front of a mirror with a form-fitting Alabama shirt, she snapped a selfie and wrote, "I've not ever taken a selfie before so I was dared to do it and post it. Will I learn to stop taking dares? Ha!" As the comments rolled in with compliments about her appearance and how she should take more selfies, she responded, "I guess I'll have to do that now that I'm single." Jason would later say that Christy suffered from low self-esteem and self-hatred. As the years progressed in their marriage, the inner turmoil started to spill out and affect her relationship with him as well as their daughters.

Christy was known to talk to her daughter Madison about her weight, making references about her large-sized clothing. At some point, she even tried on Madison's clothing just to show her how small she was in comparison, which is dangerous for a teenager's self-esteem. It's clear that Christy projected her own insecurities onto her daughters, despite how much she loved them.

Now, another interesting thing to note is that Christie was very outspoken about her stance on gun control. On January 9th, 2016, she posted a picture of a revolver with the caption, I have 10 guns. Obama wants 8 of my guns. How many guns do I have? That's right, I have 10 guns.

The caption was followed by a comment from Christy that said, That's right. Hashtag America. A friend commented on the post that suggested he wanted to purchase more guns and Christy replied, I think we may buy a few more too. Then on March 2nd, 2016, just months before the murders, she posted,

would be horribly tragic if my ability to protect myself from my family were to be taken away but that's exactly what democrats are determined to do by banning semi-automatic handguns now before people start running to the comments we want to make it perfectly clear that we're not dragging anyone here who owns guns we respect the constitutional right to bear arms but it is incredibly ironic that she's making a statement about how she needs her guns to protect her family when just months after posting this she would use those very guns to indeed

Murder her family. Now in early summer of 2016,

Christy would move back home to try and reconcile their marriage. But almost immediately things were right back to being volatile. It was clear to Jason that their marriage was over. Which brings us to June 24th, 2016. I remember this day very clearly because it's my birthday. And it also happened to be Jason's birthday as well. And even though he knew their marriage was over,

He wasn't going to say anything just yet because he wanted to enjoy his 45th birthday. However, that wouldn't happen. In fact, this would go on to be the worst birthday of all birthdays. That morning, Christy was in a horrible mood. She was picking fights with everyone in the house, especially her oldest daughter, Taylor. Like we mentioned earlier, Taylor's wedding was just days away.

So it was a pretty stressful time for her trying to get everything together. Now, it's unclear exactly what the fight was about. But Christy and Taylor got into a pretty big argument that morning about her upcoming wedding. And at the end of it, she told her 22-year-old daughter that she was grounded. She also said that Taylor couldn't leave the house to see her fiancé.

And as you can imagine, this did not go over well. Taylor is a grown adult who was about to start a family of her own. And you just can't ground a 22-year-old. So Jason tried explaining this to Christy, but she wasn't having it. And from here, she started lashing out at everyone. And that's when Jason decided that he had had enough.

Not only was Christy starting this fight with Taylor just days before her wedding, but this is also his birthday. So in a rage, he approached Christy in the backyard and told her, quote, this will be the last birthday that you are going to ruin. He then said he wanted a divorce. And he was serious this time. Everything was fairly quiet in their home. Everyone went to their own separate bedrooms to cool off for a bit.

But Christy would not cool off. Instead, she would ruminate in everything that had gone wrong in her life. At this point, it seemed like everything was falling apart. She lost her mom, her grandpa, her job, and now she was about to lose her family, too. So at around 5 p.m., Christy called everyone into the living room for a family meeting.

After their conversation in the backyard, Jason assumed she was going to tell the girls about their divorce. He even prepared himself for any questions they might have. But Jason couldn't have been more wrong. Soon enough, Taylor and Madison walked downstairs and they sat down in the living room. Jason did the same. And as the four of them gathered around the coffee table, there was a weird energy in the air.

The girls could tell that their mother was very upset. Now, Christy would be the first to break the silence as she turned to Jason and demanded an apology. But Jason had nothing to be sorry for. He had put up with so much over the years, so he refused to apologize. For a moment, there was a brief pause. Then Christy reached under the couch cushion and pulled out a .38 caliber revolver.

The gun had been gifted to her by her deceased grandfather. It took a few seconds for everyone to grasp what was happening, but soon, terror filled the room as Christy pointed the gun at Jason and said, "You made me do this. You're making me do this." But Christy wouldn't shoot her husband. That would be too easy. Instead, she was going to hurt him in the worst way she knew how.

Christy then pointed the gun at her oldest daughter, Taylor. Jason screamed at her, "Don't do this. There are kids." But it was too late. As Taylor jumped out of her chair, trying to escape, Christy fired a single round into her back. Jason then ran around the couch and threw himself over Taylor, hoping to shield her from the bullets.

He also yelled out to his youngest daughter Madison, telling her to run. Christy still had the gun aimed towards Jason and Taylor, so Madison used this opportunity to pull out her cell phone and dial 911. Warning, this 911 call is extremely disturbing.

Hello? Hello? Hello? Hello?

In that audio, you just heard Jason Sheets pleading with his wife.

begging her not to kill their children, but Christy wouldn't listen. As soon as Madison heard the dispatcher's voice, she tried to run out the front door, but Christy quickly turned the gun on her and shot her once in the neck.

17-year-old Madison Sheets would end up collapsing in the front yard of their home. Meanwhile, both Jason and Taylor are screaming, begging for Christy to drop the gun. In the 911 call, you can also hear him say he will do anything, but Christy responds, quote,

And from there, she continues to shoot at Jason and Taylor. Unfortunately, Madison Sheets was already dead in the front yard, from the gunshot wound to her neck. So in an effort to save Taylor, Jason grabs her and pulls her outside. But Christy would follow close behind. In the front yard of their Houston home, she would unload her gun into her oldest daughter's.

But on the third shot, Christy realized she was out of bullets. However, rather than stop there, she goes back inside to reload. Now, Jason is frantic. His two daughters are in the front yard bleeding out and Madison is unresponsive. Taylor, on the other hand, is still alive. So he grabs her and they desperately try to make it down the street.

getting as far away from their house as possible. But Taylor has been shot in the back, so it's hard for her to move.

However, she does manage to pull out her cell phone and dial 911. Hello? Hello? Can you repeat the address? Ma'am?

Now, it's pretty hard to hear anything in that call aside from a few whimpers, but it's horrifying to think that these were Madison's final moments. This was supposed to be the happiest time of her life. She was getting married in a couple of days, and now she's come to the horrifying reality that her own mother is trying to kill her. Now, by this point, their screams have echoed throughout their neighborhood, and some of the neighbors noticed a commotion outside. One in particular heard screaming, so he looks outside and he sees everything. Here's that 911 call.

When do you please fire Emma? Yes, we need an ambulance right away. Two people believe they're shot. Okay, stay on the line.

Okay, you think they got shot, you say? Yes. Okay. There's a lady with a gun. There's a lady with a gun? Where? Yes. It's coming out of the house right now. Two people shot outside. Okay. Two people shot outside. Okay. Where is the lady with the gun? Coming out of here from the street right now. Is she still shooting? No.

Okay, do you know who the lady is? Okay, and the people that she shot, do you know them? Okay.

Are you with the patients right now? No, because the lady with the gun came out. I had to run. Okay, what is she wearing? Describe her for me. What is she wearing? What is she wearing? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I had to run to the back. Okay, I understand. What is she wearing?

Can you describe her for me? Is she white, black, Hispanic, or Asian? No, she's Caucasian. Okay. Okay, what is she wearing? She's wearing a dress. What color dress? Let me try to pick to the window. Okay, no problem. Don't put yourself in danger, though. But do you remember what color her dress was? She's wearing a black.

Purple dress. Purple dress? Yes. Okay. She's wearing a purple dress. Is it long, short? What is she? She... Where are the patients? They're in the street. They're in the middle of the street. How is London? It's two people laying in the street? Two people. Two ladies laying in the street. Two females? Okay. Yeah, two females. And there's a guy trying to help them.

But the lady is on top of one of them with a gun on her hand. Okay, but the suspect is on top of one of the females on the street? Yeah, she's just on the street, just standing up. She's standing over one of the patients with the gun? Yes, yes. Okay.

And it looks like both of them are alive. Both of the child person, the two ladies, they're both alive. Okay. And, you know, she tried to shot him.

She's trying to shoot again on the top of her, but apparently she don't have any more bullets. Okay, yeah, I do too, sir. Just stay on the line. Let me know what you see. She's going inside the house now. Hopefully she's not getting any more bullets because she looks like she's going to look for more bullets. Okay. All right, stay on the line. And there's the...

I don't know where the guy went, but apparently he's yelling at her. Okay. Describe the guy. The guy is also, they're all Caucasians. Okay. Okay.

At this point, the neighbor has seen everything, and he's now giving the dispatch a play-by-play on everything that's happening across the street.

As you just heard, he mentioned that Kristy went back inside, likely to get more bullets. Then he watches, and she emerges again. - Oh, she shot her again. She shot her again. - She shot her again? - Yes. From the back. She was trying to run. - She shot another female again that was... - Yes, they were laying down on the floor. She shot her from the back.

Okay, stay on the line. Sir, what do you see? What is she doing now?

They're secure. Lay down on the floor. Okay, sir. Lay down on the floor. Yeah, make sure your family is secure. Don't let anyone see you looking out the window, okay? Can anyone see you? No, that's her address. I can hear her. I don't see them anymore. There's bullets. I can hear bullets.

Okay.

Okay. Did she shoot herself? Apparently she did. You think she shot herself? Apparently she shot herself, yes. Okay. Is she moving? She's moving, yes. Okay. Okay.

You know, it doesn't look like she's moving anymore. Okay. Okay, sir, I'm so sorry you're saying this, but just stay on the line. Okay. Stay on the line, sir. Yes. Okay, what do you see now? Are the two females still laying in the street?

Now, the caller assumed that Christy shot herself, but that's not really what happened. You see, as she went back inside to reload her gun, the Fort Bend County Sheriff's officers were in the area.

And luckily, once she emerged with the loaded gun, they were already on scene. By this point, Jason had escaped to safety at the end of the cul-de-sac, but Christy was still walking towards her daughters with the loaded revolver.

The officers instructed her to drop her weapon, but she wouldn't listen. Christy aimed the gun at Madison's lifeless body, and the officers were left with no choice but to fire a shot directly into Christy's chest. Neighbor Sebastikwiti told ABC, All I saw was the police officer aiming his rifle towards someone and saying, drop your weapons, and then afterwards another gunshot. Soon after that, there were a lot of police cars that came.

Madison Sheets and Christie Sheets were both pronounced dead at the scene. Madison had a single gunshot wound to her neck, and Taylor had suffered three gunshot wounds to her back and head. When the paramedics arrived to treat Taylor, she was barely breathing. They quickly airlifted her to Memorial Hermann Hospital, but sadly, she would die shortly after from her injuries.

Their father, Jason Sheets, was completely unharmed during the shootout. But he too was taken to the hospital due to the pure shock he experienced after witnessing his two young daughters murder. But as word got around about what happened, the Sheets' friends and family members were left with so many unanswered questions.

Like, why would a loving and devoted mother kill her own two children? A horrific story out of Texas with the Tennessee Valley Connection. Police say Decatur native Christy Sheets shot and killed her two daughters. According to eyewitnesses, Taylor and Madison Sheets were wounded when they came out of their home onto the streets.

Sheets allegedly went back inside the house to reload her gun, then shot the girls again. When she refused to drop her weapon, Sheets was then killed by police. Sheets' husband and the father of the two girls was not hurt in the incident. Good evening and thanks for joining us. I'm Alyssa Martin. Kristi Sheets was from Decatur. Way 31's Trey Ward reached out to her friends to learn more about her. He joins us now live in the studio. And Trey, one friend says she's still in disbelief tonight.

Good evening, Alyssa. It's a story you'll see exclusively on Way 31. Catherine Knowles, a local author here in Huntsville, says she and Christy Sheets instantly became close friends once they met. She tells me Sheets always spoke proudly of her daughters and Knowles couldn't imagine her ever doing any harm to his kids.

I'm shocked. Two daughters dead at the hands of their own mother. I'm just at a loss for words as to how this could have happened. A mom with ties right here to the Tennessee Valley. She loved being from here. And people who knew the decatur woman are now left in disbelief. This is not Christy that I know. It's just not. I thought it was the wrong person. It had to be. When you meet her, you know she's a mom.

That was, you know, within the first minute. - Catherine Knowles, a local author says she met Cheats just last summer. - She was here in Huntsville thinking about a possible career change. - And says it was in her own home. - It's one of those people that you thought I'm gonna be friends with the rest of my life. - Where their friendship began. - I come barreling through the door in the kitchen

I had actually done what my niece told me to do. I took my husband's razor and shaved my face off. And so I met these two strangers and I was like, look, I just shaved my face. And she was laughing. She told me, I know I'm going to love you already. No says while sheets was a big help to her business, tried to explain to me, you know, what goes on on Facebook and what likes meant. The conversation always revolved around her girls. That was her life. That was her joy. It says there were never any early signs that this would happen.

I can't imagine anything that would have happened in her life that would have made her snap. Your own children, I don't know what could possibly go through someone's head. Now Knowles is only left thinking about how she could have helped. I wish there was something I could have done. As family and friends in the Tennessee Valley wait for answers, officials in Texas continue to investigate what led up to the deadly shootings.

Hey, everybody. This is not an ad. Courtney and I just have an exciting announcement to make. So our first official merch drop is live online right now. For those of you who follow us on Instagram, you already saw this and you've bought your shirts. And for those of you on Patreon, you also saw the early drop link.

And it's crazy because we've already sold almost half of our stock. Now, Courtney and I released three different t-shirts. We only printed 50 of each and they're available right now on our online store, www.bloodinthesync.store. Once again, that's www.bloodinthesync.store. We only printed 50 of each design. Those are the only 50 that we're going to sell. We're not restocking right now. So if you love the show, you want to help support us. And I know a lot of you have been waiting for merchandise.

Go check out our story right now. Also, I'm going to add in here, it's spooky season. And if you're looking for something kind of scary to watch on a Friday night, go check out my YouTube channel, The Paranormal Files. We do documentaries on true crime, ghost hunting. Courtney and I have done a lot of videos together, including our full-length Jeffrey Dahmer documentaries. So if you're looking to add a little spookiness to your October, search up The Paranormal Files on YouTube. But anyways, enough of that. And let's get back to today's story.

one of chrissy's friends a woman named catherine knowles told people magazine she loves her daughters i have no idea what could possibly make a mother who loves her daughters as much as she did what could cause a person to snap the part of chrissy that i knew was a very kind loving mother within 20 seconds of meeting her we were talking about her being a mom that was her mission in life that was her everything her two daughters after the shooting jason's family members came to town to support him after all his entire family was taken from him in a matter of minutes

His mother, Ann Sheets-Wooten, told the media, "...we've had the preachers here and everything. I just can't handle it today, or ever, I guess." After a few days, it was still hard for the community to truly grasp what had happened. And on June 27th, it was especially sad. That was the day that Taylor was supposed to get married to the love of her life. We weren't able to find anything about Juan or how he's doing today, but I can imagine he was devastated losing his fiancée just days before their wedding.

Now on June 30th, 2016, Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nels gave a press conference on the murders. The purpose of this press conference today is to bring forth new details related to the shooting death of Taylor and Madison Sheets by their mother, Christy Sheets, who was then shot and killed by a Folshire police officer.

Last evening, Sheriff's detectives and I conducted our first detailed interview with Mr. Sheets since the shooting took place last Friday afternoon in the unincorporated area of Katy. Mr. Sheets expressed no interest in speaking with the media, but gave consent to our office to provide more details into the shooting incident from his own account.

Several questions have been posed to our office as to the motive for this shooting. Whether Mrs. Sheets suffered from a mental illness, questions regarding the gun that was used in the shooting, as well as the previous call history to the Sheets residence. During our interview with Mr. Sheets, we were able to help confirm eyewitness accounts as to what took place, as well as the 911 calls our office received.

I will share with you some of those details. We asked Mr. Sheets for a motive in his own words and why would Christy kill their two daughters and her motivation for doing such. Mr. Sheets summarized the following: He stated that he felt Christy wanted him to suffer. During this incident, Christy had ample time and opportunity to shoot and kill Mr. Sheets in the home, but she chose not to.

Mr. Sheets stated Christie knew how much he loved Taylor and Madison and how much they loved him. By killing his children, Mr. Sheets will have to live the rest of his life with this horrible memory. Mr. Sheets also stated that his oldest daughter, Taylor,

had a verbal argument with Christie on Friday where Christie wanted to ground her and prevent her from seeing her boyfriend or fiance because she argued with her. Mr. Sheets did not agree with Christie and told her that it was inappropriate to ground their 22-year-old daughter and prevent her from seeing her fiance as a result of a verbal argument. We asked Mr. Sheets regarding Christie's mental health

He stated that Christy was admitted to a private mental health facility for evaluation and treatment on three separate occasions related to attempted suicide. Mr. Sheets stated that the length of time in these hospitals were a few days and he picked Christy up once she was released from the hospital. Mr. Sheets stated that Christy was suffering from depression and taking numerous prescription medications.

He also told us that Christie was seeing a therapist. - Maternal filicide is defined as a child who was murdered by their mother. It's also one of the most upsetting crimes because mothers are supposed to love and protect their children more than anyone in the world.

Philocide is divided into five categories. There is altruistic philocide, acutely psychotic philocide, unwanted child philocide, child maltreatment philocide, and spouse revenge philocide. According to Jason, Christy wanted him to suffer the way she had been suffering after the death of her grandfather and mother. And that's the reason she spared his life. She wanted to hurt him the best way she knew how, to take away his children. Sheriff Troy Nell said, "...we look at him as a victim."

This is something he's going to have to live with for the rest of his life. She accomplished what she set out to do, which is to make him suffer. Christy Sheets took two of the most important people in Jason's life, his daughters, Madison and Taylor. And not only did she take them away, but she also made it to where she wouldn't have to live to face the consequences. Christy knew exactly what she was doing when those officers came to the scene.

and by pointing the gun at Madison's body, she knew they would have no other choice than to shoot her, a term called suicide by cop. Neighbor Chapin Nickerson spoke to the local news stations, and he said it was obvious that Jason loved his daughters. He also said that the children were very well-mannered, friendly, and respectful.

And what made it even more shocking was that everyone couldn't stop talking about how much Christy loved them too. A quick look at her Instagram showed so many posts of her talking about how grateful she was for her girls.

Christie's former employer, John Hollis, stated, "It shook me to the core. It was shocking, truly shocking. She had a charm about her. Apparently, that was something that, if she wanted to turn it on, she could. And if turned the other way, it turned the other way.

Friends and teachers of Madison and Taylor were equally shocked at the news of their deaths. Madison's former teacher at Seven Lakes High School, Whitney Mae Bruce, said, My heart is broken this morning to find that my sweet Madison Sheets lost her life.

Taylor's friend, Joanna Higgins, posted a tribute on their high school alumni page that stated, quote,

I'm in utter shock. She was so talented and had a heart of gold. God rest her soul and those mourning her loss. End quote.

Madison and Taylor Sheets were laid to rest on July 2, 2016 at Limestone Memorial Gardens in Athens, Alabama. In attendance was their father, Jason, and Taylor's fiancée, Juan Sebastian Lugo. A large group of mourners gathered to pay their respects at Shelton Funeral Home and support both Jason and Juan. Jason spoke at the funeral service and said, "...if you have loved ones, tell them you love them every day and give them a hug because you never know, it might be your last day." He also said that the only peace he had was that both his daughters knew he loved them very much.

And I think that was obvious until the very end, as he shielded them from bullets and begged for their lives. Friend Marsha Hill spoke with WAFF TV after the funeral and stated, He said one thing with his children he knows he has peace with is that he loved his kids. His kids knew that he loved him and his kids loved him. And he showed them and kissed them and loved them every day. That shows a lot.

Luckily, Jason did not claim Christy's body, and she was not buried next to Taylor and Madison. It's unknown where her grave is located, but it's reported that her body was also taken back to Alabama for a private funeral service and that her body was then cremated.

After the funeral, Jason Sheets moved back to his hometown of Decatur, Alabama. According to his Facebook page, he was remarried on May 27, 2016 to a woman named Monica Sheets. And luckily for him, he seems really happy. He posted, quote, I am so in love and thankful to have such a wonderful wife.

End quote. Which, that just makes me so happy. Jason Sheets probably went through the worst thing I can possibly think of, so I'm very glad that he found someone that can help him through all that. Jason's Facebook is also filled with pictures of Madison and Taylor, and his bio reads, quote, "'Proud Christian father of Taylor and Madison Sheets, happily married to Monica Sheets.'"

And although Jason doesn't speak publicly about what happened on the afternoon of June 24th, 2016, he did do a brief interview with Dr. Oz in September of 2016. Now, he didn't go into detail about the events that transpired, but when asked about Christy...

Jason said he had nothing good to say about her because anyone who kills their own children never loved them to begin with. He also said, quote, No matter what I do, where I run, no matter what I occupy my time with, I will never be able to get those thoughts out of my head. End quote.

Jason admitted that Christy had applied for a license to carry a gun in the state of Texas, but she was denied. It's also unknown why she was denied, but her multiple mental health crises likely had something to do with it. And at the end of the day, it did not stop her from shooting and killing her own children.

Today, Jason admits that the only thing that has saved him was his faith in God. He told Dr. Oz, "The one verse that helped me, that as a young man I never really understood, is Psalms 46:10, where it says, 'Be still and know that I am God.' I know that he's God now more so than ever, because it took that kind of power to save me." It still remains a mystery on how a seemingly normal woman could one day snap and murder her own children.

Friends and family members said that Christy had never been a violent person, and they always believed that she was a loving, caring, and devoted mother to Madison and Taylor. Her social media pages were always filled with happy photographs of her children and the beautiful life she created. But that alone just goes to show that social media can be deceiving. People often portray the good parts of their life.

but they always fail to show us their demons. Christy Sheets looked like an all-American mom who loved her family more than anything. And if you were to have looked at her social media before June 24th, 2016, you would have no idea that when faced with divorce, she was capable of murdering her two daughters.

As a lot of you probably know, Courtney and I's time is already really stretched thin. We have multiple projects that we're working on. I'm working on a documentary. We're posting a video every week on YouTube, a podcast, a second podcast. So we don't have a lot of extra time in our lives, especially when it comes to cooking. I know that for myself at the end of a long workday, the last thing that I want to do is get in the kitchen and cook myself something. And meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking can be a huge hassle.

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Hey, everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. I actually remember when this story happened. I was living in Austin, Texas at the time, and it was just shocking, shocking news. Just a terrible, terrible, tragic story that obviously did not need to happen.

But a few announcements, like I said in the podcast, we have our first official merch drop. It's here if you want an officially licensed Murder in America t-shirt. We have three different beautiful designs printed on super high quality materials. We're hand shipping everything out from our apartment. Just head to bloodinthesink.store or www.bloodinthesink.store. We're running out of stock right now, so I'm pretty sure we're going to sell out after this episode posts. So if you want one, I would go get one soon because we're not restocking.

But I want to shout out a bunch of our patrons. Still, we're still catching up. Miguel Barajas, Kelsey Randall, Macaulay Parker, Theo Long, Jose, Kirsten Jones, Carmen Garriga, Mia Nagy, Danny, Dayoa Daniels, Haley Duke, Katie Young, Jody Funkmaster, Salty152, Donna, Key Sardi, Heaven Penaloza, Caitlin Salvato, Brooke Richardson, Jade, Ryan Milton, Sky Jenkins, Rachel Doherty, and Kayla Cruz. Oh my God, every single week our Patreon grows and grows and grows.

We love you guys so much, and we cannot even express how grateful we are to have you all on there. If you want to become a patron, have your name read at the end of an episode, just head to patreon.com. For $5 a month, you get the episodes on our main feed, ad-free and early. For $10, you get that

plus two bonus full-length episodes of the show. And for $20, you get four full-length bonus episodes of the show and every episode early and ad-free. Well, sorry for talking so long. I'm running out of time. I love you guys so much. We both do. And yeah, we will catch you on the next episode.

Hey everyone! I'm Joe. And I'm Trace. And we're the HorrorQueers. Every week we do a deep dive into a different horror film and look at it through a queer lens. This could mean pointing out queer creatives that worked on the film. Or applying a queer reading to some of your favorite horror movie characters. Episodes can be serious and academic. Or fun and frivolous. It depends on the movie! And no movie is off limits. The film could have explicit queer themes. A high camp quotient. Or both. Or not at all!

We believe that representation matters, and since queer folks haven't always had the best representation, we're here to help fix that. So what are you waiting for? Subscribe today to start getting your weekly dose of queer horror. Horror Queers, available wherever you get your podcasts. Or find us online at bloody.fm.

Hey there. Are you in need of a new weekly fix of horror gaming discussions? Then look no further than Safe Room, Bloody FM's horror video gaming podcast. I'm your host, Jay Krieger. And I am the other one, Neil Bowen. And every week, Neil, myself, and the occasional guest get together to chat about classic and contemporary horror games and the elements that make them a standout amongst the hordes of horror games being released seemingly every day now.

In addition to celebrating anniversaries and new releases, we also interview influential horror developers such as Amnesia the Bunker's creative lead, Frederick Wilson, and even the maestro of lo-fi horror, Erdorf, the developer behind the Faith trilogy. And finally, on Thursdays, we release episodes of Horror Bytes, our bite-sized indie horror showcase in which Neil and I share a game that we discovered on Itch.io from an up-and-coming developer.

So if this sounds like the podcast for you, please consider checking out Safe Room on your preferred podcast platform, and be sure to give us a follow on Twitter, at Safe Room Pod, for show updates. Welcome to the All 80s Movies Podcast. I'm Bill. And I'm Jason. And this is the podcast where we talk about the blockbusters, the flops, and everything in between from one of the freshest decades for movies, the 1980s. So whether you're a brain, a jock,

a valley girl, or a Jedi, we've got some 80s classics for you. Do these movies stand the test of time? Are we discovering something new? Is there an 80s movie we are finally watching for the first time? Join us each week as we dive into the cinematic nostalgia that inspired and influenced a generation. From the hits to the cult classics, we'll discuss our earliest memories, favorite scenes, fun facts, and our not-so-favorite movie moments, too. You can find the All 80s Movies Podcast wherever you listen to your podcasts.

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