Couple Found Shot to death in Brookshire, TX Home(Arrest)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/100311-couple-found-dead-in-brookshire-home
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Couple Found Dead in Brookshire Home
Thursday, March 11, 2010

BROOKSHIRE, Texas - A popular Brookshire man and his fiancée were murdered at their home Thursday morning while their young goddaughters--the Brookshire mayor's children--were visiting.

Stanley Jackson's sister told FOX 26 News her 46-year-old brother and his fiancée, Jamella Evans, were the victims in the deadly shooting reported after 7 a.m. Thursday at a home on 3rd Street near Stallknecht.

The couple's 9- and 6-year-old goddaughters were inside the house during the shooting, Brookshire Police Chief Joseph Prejean said at a press conference Thursday afternoon.

The girls, who police identified as Brookshire Joey Vaughn's daughters, often stayed at the couple's home on Wednesdays, Jackson's sister told FOX 26 News.

The older sibling used a phone inside the home to call her mother's cell phone and ask her to come over, Prejean said. When the mom arrived, she discovered the couple's bodies.

Jackson's body was found near the front door, while the Evans's body was discovered in another room, Prejean said.

Now, police are still trying to piece together the clues.

Prejean said he knew Jackson personally and knows he'd never open the door to strangers. The front door of the house was closed, and police couldn't find any other signs of forced entry.

Prejean suspects Jackson somehow knew the murderer, but he doesn't think the couple was necessarily targeted. He thinks the suspects might have chosen the house because it seemed to be an easy target.

However, it wasn't immediately clear whether anything was taken from the house.

Jackson and his Evans were well-liked in the community. Children often visited their home to play basketball.

Edit to add "(Arrest)" to subject line.  MB

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6908365.html
Man, woman found shot to death in Brookshire home
Thursday, March 11, 2020


KHOU
Janella Edwards and Stanley Jackson were found shot to death Thursday morning in Brookshire.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/100312-suspect-questioned-in-brookshire-murders
Suspect Questioned in Brookshire Murders
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Friday, March 12, 2010
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      ALEXANDER SUPGUL
      Web Producer

BROOKSHIRE, Texas - A suspect is questioned by Texas Rangers in the murder of a couple in Brookshire.

Stanley Jackson and Janella Edwards were found shot to death in their home on Thursday morning.

The suspect has been identified as a man who originally lived in Brookshire but recently moved to Houston. Authorities had to persuade the suspect to appear at the Brookshire police station for questioning on Friday.

Investigators say Jackson, who was known to carry large amounts of cash with him, was missing an undetermined amount of money.

The suspect who was questioned has a minor misdemeanor record with the law enforcement community in Brookshire and many leads in the investigation led to the suspect.

Brookshire chief Joe Prejean said that the suspect was a friend of Jackson and was aware that Jackson carried cash on him.

Employees at the store where Edwards worked are accepting donations on behalf of Edwards and Jackson for their families.

Brookshire police released the suspect until further notice and have not charged him with a crime. Police are still questioning other witnesses are

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6908365.html
Couple's slaying stuns small-town Brookshire
March 12, 2010

BROOKSHIRE — As a homeowner, Stanley Jackson's pride showed in his well-manicured lawn, adorned with decorative statues and miniature palm trees in the back yard. It was the envy of the neighborhood.

As a part-time home businessman, he knew how to work with his customers. If someone couldn't pay the full price for the clothes he sold, Jackson often cut them some slack, relatives said.

So when he and his wife, Janella Edwards, were found dead on Thursday — each shot in the head — this small Waller County community was in disbelief, questioning who would kill the well-regarded couple. They were baby-sitting their godchildren, two young daughters of Mayor Joey Vaughn, when they were shot.

“He really cared for people. He was well-liked,” said Eddie Manuel, Jackson's nephew. “If I ever needed something, all I had to do was ask Uncle Stan.”

Authorities continued their investigation Friday into the deaths while questioning a person of interest.

No arrests have been made.

Manuel and dozens of relatives and friends watched Thursday afternoon as medical personnel took the bodies of the couple from their home on Third Street.

Any murder in this town of about 4,000 people would be a shock, but residents said the slayings have dealt an especially tragic blow to the community about 40 miles west of Houston.

“I'm scared. It's so close,” said Linda McKinney, a life-long friend of the couple.

“You never know who's next. It could have been us instead of them,” said McKinney, who lives down the street.
Girls unharmed

Jackson, 40, a concrete truck driver, and Edwards, 31, who worked at a local supermarket, were found shortly after 7 a.m. inside their home. The two girls, 6 and 9, were not harmed.

“The girls came to stay all night with them,” Brookshire Police Chief Joe Prejean said. “They usually came every Wednesday night.”

Late Thursday, a stunned Mayor Vaughn said he had been very close friends with the couple.

They were discovered when the girls' mother arrived to pick them up for school.

The older girl heard the knocking on the front door and found Jackson lying dead on the floor, police said.

She immediately ran to the bathroom and used the telephone to call her mother.

“Her mother told her, ‘It's me at the door. Stay in the bathroom and I'll call the police,' ” Prejean said.

Brookshire police found Jackson lying on the floor near the front door. Edwards was found in a bedroom. Each one appeared to have been shot once in the head, Prejean said.

Investigators said they believe Jackson and Edwards were killed early Thursday morning. There were no signs of forced entry and no indications of a struggle inside the house, Prejean said.

They were pronounced dead by a Waller County justice of the peace. Harris County medical examiners will conduct an autopsy , Brookshire police said.

Although nothing appeared to have been stolen, Prejean said some money may have been missing from the house.

Brookshire police said they don't believe Jackson and Edwards were involved in any illegal activity that might have played a part in their deaths. Prejean said they had been together for at least 15 years.

“They were decent, hard-working people,” he said.

Staring at her friends' home, now blocked by long lines of crime scene tape, neighbor McKinney said she couldn't understand why anyone would want to harm the couple.

“They weren't violent. They were just good people,” McKinney said. “I'm trying to figure it out myself. Why? Why?”
Teens questioned

Police began getting tips about possible suspects as news of the slayings began to spread through Brookshire.

Later Thursday, police were questioning two teenagers, 15 or 16, who may have information about the killings. They led police to another "person of interest," a friend of the dead couple, and that person was being questioned today, according to authorities.

Friends said Jackson was generally the more outgoing of the pair, always ready with a greeting for his neighbors, while Edwards was a bit shy.

“She was kind. She was sweet — just like her husband,” Manuel said. “There's no explanation for this.

“Both of them worked hard for what they had. The people who did this — they need to be caught,” he said.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.click2houston.com/news/26642258/detail.html
2 Arrested In 3 Killings In Brookshire
January 27, 2011

BROOKSHIRE, Texas -- Two men have been charged in connection with the killings of three people in Brookshire in unrelated cases.
In the first case, Dominique Lasker, 26, was charged with capital murder. Brookshire police said he killed Stanley Jackson, 50, and Janella Edwards, 41, in their Brookshire home on March 11.

Investigators said the couple let Lasker live in their home, helped raise him and treated him like a member of their family.
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Police did not reveal a motive.

Brookshire Police Chief Brandal Jackson said one other person could still be arrested in the double killing.
Lasker was arrested in California as a bank robbery suspect. He is expected to be extradited to Texas.

The chief said that had Lasker not been arrested for the California bank robberies, it would have been much more difficult to ever identify a killer in this case. He would not provide details of what, exactly, led police to pin the crimes on Lasker after his arrest.

Police declined to say whether the murder weapon has been found
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[MuffyBee]

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7923195
video
Police make arrest in Brookshire double murder
January 27, 2011

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Brookshire police say tips led them to 26-year-old Dominique Lasker after he was arrested in San Diego for robbing a bank. He is now charged with capital murder as well as two counts of murder related to the killings last March. What's shocking is he's a man the victims not only knew but knew very well.
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Lasker has been indicted for the murders of Stan Jackson and his longtime girlfriend, Janella Edwards. They were babysitting Vaughn's two children the night they were shot to death last March. The kids were asleep in the home at the time.
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Friends say Lasker graduated from Brookshire's Royal High School, where he played football. He joined the Marines several years, served in Japan and Germany and told family and friends he was at home on leave at the time of the murders.

Brookshire police won't reveal a possible motive.
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Lasker is awaiting extradition in California to face the charges here. Police say he is cooperating. There's no word on whether the Waller County District Attorney will seek the death penalty.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/110127-marine-sergeant-charged-in-double-murder
Marine Sergeant Charged in Double Murder
January 27, 2011

BROOKSHIRE, Texas - A decorated U.S. Marine Seargent is facing charges in the deaths of two people in Brookshire almost a year ago. Dominique Lasker, 26 and originally from Brookshire, is charged with capital murder and two counts of murder. A Waller County grand jury handed up the indictments against him this week. Currently, Lasker is in a California jail on unrelated charges.
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Police didn't know it at the time, but Lasker had returned to Brookshire on leave the same week as the double murder.

"We weren't aware of Dominique's possible role until later in the investigation," said Chief Jackson.

In fact not until two months ago did police catch a break. Lasker made news in his new home of San Diego, and it wasn't for his military service. Lasker and another marine were arrested following a takeover style bank robbery and shootout with police.

"Basically some good tips came out. Through various tips we were able to link him as a suspect in the case," said Chief Jackson.
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The Texas Rangers have questioned Lasker in California and say he's been cooperative.
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The big question is motive. Police might have their thoughts, but they're not saying. Chief Jackson says police will move to have Lasker extradited back to Brookshire. He's also looking into the possibility someone else was also involved.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7403149.html
Marine charged in Brookshire couple's killings
Victims had taken suspect in when he was a child
January 29, 2011


Relatives say Stanley Jackson and Janella Edwards treated Lasker like family.


Handout photo
The allegations against Dominique Lasker, 26, shocked those who knew him and the victims.

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A Waller County grand jury has indicted Lasker on a capital murder charge in connection with the deaths last March. It also issued two counts of first-degree murder.

Lasker is not likely to be returning to Texas soon, however, as he remains in custody in a California jail awaiting trial for bank robbery, allegedly committed with a fellow Marine sergeant last October. Texas authorities will attempt to have him extradited following the resolution of federal charges.

Authorities were stumped for leads in the double homicide until Lasker was arrested near San Diego, where he is stationed. When news of the arrest reached the couple's friends and family members back in Texas, police began to get tips suggesting Lasker's involvement in the killings.
ot originally a suspect

Jackson, 50, and Edwards, 41, were baby-sitting the children of Brookshire's mayor when they were killed. There was no sign of forced entry, nothing appeared to be stolen, and the children, girls who were then 9 and 6, were not harmed. The couple's bodies were discovered when the girls' mother arrived to take them to school.

Jackson and Edwards were well-known and highly regarded in Brookshire, where he drove a concrete truck and she worked at a supermarket. No one in the small community west of Katy could imagine why anyone would have wanted to harm the couple. Lasker was not a suspect at the time, in part because authorities were unaware that he had been in town.
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Friends and family were aware that Lasker had been home on leave at the time of the slayings but did not mention it to authorities, the chief said. They apparently didn't imagine he might have been connected to the crime, even when he returned to his base in San Diego before the funerals.

"They never suspected he could do such a thing until after the robbery, when they started asking whether he might be involved," the chief said. "That's when we began receiving some tips. It definitely raised eyebrows."
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Rumors of missing safe

Jackson said a motive for the killings has not been clearly established. Robbery has not been ruled out, he said, because of rumors that a small safe might have been removed from the home.

Texas authorities have interviewed Lasker, and Chief Jackson said he has been cooperative. But he declined to say whether the suspect had confessed.
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