MURDERER: Christy Sheats

A loving mother and wife snaps and kills her two daughters to “punish” her husband after years of a crumbling marriage.

Taylor Sheats (left) and Madison Sheats (right)

On June 24th, emergency services arrived outside of the Sheats family home after receiving multiple calls about a disturbance and shooting at the house. Right as they parked they would witness Christy Sheats kneel over her eldest daughter, Taylor, and fire one final shot. She refused to lay down her weapon leading to an officer fatally shooting Christy.

Just outside of the house’s front door lay Christy’s youngest daughter, Madison, dead on the pavement.

But how did a loving mother end up callously murdering her two daughters on their father’s birthday?

Four years previously, in 2012, Christy’s grandfather passed away, he had played a large part in raising her so it was like she had lost her father. She would never truly be able to heal from the loss and Christy’s mental state began to rapidly deteriorate.
In the following four years, she would be treated at three private mental health facilities, each time following separate suicide attempts. Christy would also get multiple medications prescribed to try and treat depression and anxiety.

Police would also get called to the residence several times over those four years. Some were for Christy’s attempts, another was a verbal dispute between Christy and her husband Jason. A sheriff’s office crisis intervention team had also been called out to the household for an unspecified reason.

All of this would lead to Jason and Christy struggling with marital problems, the pair coming to the decision that divorce would be the best option for them. At least, Jason had wanted a divorce from Christy.

This all piled up leading to the events of June 24th 2016.
It began when Christy tried to ground her 22-year-old daughter, Taylor, attempting to prevent her from seeing her fiance. The couple were set to marry in just a matter of days seemingly with or without Christy’s approval. Jason would get involved in support of his adult daughter.

Christy would call for a family meeting right after, bringing their 17-year-old Madison into the conversation.
The family of four gathered in the living room, Jason expecting Christy to tell their daughters about the impending divorce. Instead, Christy would pull a 5-shot .38-caliber revolver from between the couch cushions.

The weapon had been inherited from Christy’s grandfather but she wasn’t licensed to handle it, despite having applied for her license. The Texas Department of Public Safety rejected her application likely due to her mental health but that’s just an assumption.

Christy aimed the revolver at her daughters, not once turning it on Jason.
911 calls captured the moment leading up to the shooting, Jason could be heard pleading with Christy. Madison and Taylor were screaming in fear.
The three ran out of the house with Christy right behind them.

Madison collapsed dead on the street close to the house, her mother had shot her in the neck.
Taylor was a little further down the street when she too collapsed, shot twice.
Jason had made it to the end of the cul-de-sac and was safe with a neighbour.

In a 911 call made by a neighbour, they described Christy returning inside the home to reload before walking back over to Taylor. She kneeled over her dying daughter, shooting one final time as the first responders arrive at the scene.
The officers ordered Christy to drop her weapon but when she refused they fired, shooting her dead in the street.

Taylor was rushed to Houston hospital but sadly she died from her injuries, three separate gunshots to her head and back.

It’s theorised that Christy murdered both of the Sheats girls as a way to “punish” Jason. This was assumed as she had ample time to fire at Jason but she instead just left him to watch his daughters die.