She lost her parents, her two brothers and two sisters. Now, the only survivor in the killing of a Spring family may take the stand Tuesday and face her uncle, who’s accused of the murders.
Cassidy Stay, who was 15 at the time of the murders, played dead after her family was shot execution-style inside their home in July 2014. She’s expected to appear in court on Tuesday.
She survived a bullet wound to the head.
“She (Cassidy) can hear the shooting continue down the line. Emily. Bryan. And then another shot and Zachary stops crying,” said prosecutor Samantha Knecht during Monday’s opening statements. “They recovered 13 casings from the Stay living room. Thirteen. And that every one of those casings comes back to that 9mm that was found with the defendant when he was in custody.”
During the first day of the trial, the jury saw the gruesome pictures of the Stay family after they had been shot to death.
Tuesday morning, prosecutors showed more pictures, but this time, they showed a closer look of the bullets and a make-shift silencer allegedly used to muffle the sound of gunfire.
Ronald Lee Haskell Jr. faces multiple capital murder charges. He’s accused of killing the family members as retribution for helping his ex-wife, Melanie, separate from him. Cassidy’s mom, Katie Stay, was Melanie’s sister.
That silencer is a pillow wrapped in duct tape. Prosecutors say Haskell used that silencer to quiet the sound of gunfire. The photos were shown to the jury briefly, but jury members will get a more in depth description of the silencer after their morning break.
The jury also saw several pictures of shell casings, many of which were found alongside the victims, including Cassidy’s brother, Zachary, her dad Stephen, and another was found near Katie.
Prosecutors also showed a picture of a bullet that ended up in Stephen’s wallet. Stephen had the wallet on him during the shooting rampage.
The jury also learned there was no gun found at the home. During the morning session, Haskell showed little to no emotion and did not appear to look at the photographs.
The defense claims Haskell was insane at the time of the murders.
“He’s sedated and he’s an individual that’s been treated for a severe mental illness,” said defense attorney Douglas Durham on Monday. “Texas has an insanity statute and if this isn’t a case where the evidence, a preponderance of the evidence, is going to show severe mental illness and he couldn’t distinguish right from wrong, I don’t know what case there is.”
Haskell faces the death penalty if convicted.
