'She wanted me to suffer,' husband says of woman accused of killing daughters

FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas – Christy Sheats had mental health issues and tried to prevent her oldest daughter from seeing her fiance before she shot and killed both of her daughters last week in the Katy area, her husband told deputies.

Homicide detectives interviewed her husband, Jason Sheats, 45, for for several hours Tuesday night, according to Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls. Jason Sheats told deputies his wife spiraled into depression after her grandfather died in 2012. In the same year, she tried to commit suicide by overdosing on pills three times.

After being admitted to several mental health facilities, Jason Sheats said the mother become a heavy drinker. 

According to Jason Sheats, Christy Sheats wanted to ground their eldest daughter Taylor Sheats from seeing her fiance last week, but he told her that it was inappropriate to ground their 22-year-old daughter.

Jason Sheats also told investigators his wife killed their two daughters to punish him after he told Christy Sheats he wanted a divorce. 

"Mr. Sheats stated Christy knew how much he loved Taylor and Madison, and how much they loved him," Nehls said. "He did state, she accomplish what she set out to do, and that is make him suffer." 

According to officials, Christy Sheats, 42, had arranged a meeting with the family last Friday, the date of Jason Sheat's birthday, at their home in the 6000 block of Remson Hollow Lane near Blanchard Grove Drive in an unincorporated area of Katy near Fulshear. Jason Sheats thought the meeting was to tell the girls that they were divorcing, a topic which the couple had discussed.

Instead Christy Sheats pulled out a five-shot, .38-caliber handgun and shot Taylor Sheats, who was scheduled to be married in a few days, and Madison Sheats, 17, and Taylor, deputies said.

Jason Sheats said he ran out of the house, taking the wounded girls with him.

Christy Sheats allegedly followed them outside and shot the girls again. Jason Sheats was able to escape. A Fulshear police officer eventually shot and killed Christy Sheats when police said she wouldn't put down her weapon after shooting one of her daughters.

Jason Sheats, 45, said he felt Christy Sheats wanted him to suffer. He claimed she had ample time to shoot him, but she chose not to do it. He said his wife knew how much he loved his daughters and how much they loved him, and that he would have to live without them and suffer.

"And he did state, she accomplished what she set out to do and that is make him suffer," Nehls said.

He claimed that Christy was admitted to three different private mental health facilities on three separate occasions for suicide attempts in the last four years. Each stay was for a few days, and then he picked her up each time, he said.

Christy Sheats was suffering from depression and anxiety, and was taking several medications and also seeing a therapist, Nehls said.

The gun she used was given to her by her late grandfather, according to deputies. As KPRC 2 News previously reported, she purported on Facebook to be a Second Amendment advocate, but she was denied a state concealed carry permit earlier this year for unknown reasons.

The two were married for more than 20 years.

"According to Mr. Sheats, after her grandfather passed away in 2012 he referred to the marriage as a downward spiral," Nehls said.

Dating back to 2012, Nehls said several calls for service were made to their home. Three of the calls were suicide attempts by Christy Sheats, five calls were false alarms, one was a medical call, one call was from the Sheriff's Office Crisis Intervention Team, one call was a verbal altercation and one was a call from Christy Sheats who wanted to speak to a deputy.

Deputies said there were prior separation periods between the couple, but they were all living together in the home at the time of the shooting.

Calls made to 911 during the shooting were released. Each daughter placed an emergency call, as well as a neighbor.

Fort Bend County deputies said Madison Sheats was the first to call Sheriff's Office dispatchers before her sister, Taylor Sheats, dialed a second time. In the recordings, they can be heard pleading with their mother not to shoot. KPRC 2 has decided not to air or publish the 911 calls that the daughters made during the incident because of their graphic nature.

In both calls from the two sisters, one can hear screaming and pleading in the background as the dispatch officer asks whether the family needs an ambulance, firefighters or other emergency services.

The women's calls were followed by a final 911 call from a neighbor as he watched the situation unfold, officials said.

Taylor Sheats was attending Lone Star College. Madison Sheats was a student at Seven Lakes High School.

A closed funeral service will be held for the girls Thursday in Katy. 


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