Stephen and Katie Stay were killed with five of their children: Bryan, 13, Emily, 9, Rebecca. 7, and Zach, 4. Cassidy survived the shooting by playing dead. Photo / Facebook
Stephen and Katie Stay were killed with five of their children: Bryan, 13, Emily, 9, Rebecca. 7, and Zach, 4. Cassidy survived the shooting by playing dead. Photo / Facebook
The Stay family's only crime was doing the right thing.
For months, the family-of-seven from Harris County in Houston's north had been sheltering a victim of domestic abuse.
Parents Stephen and Katie Stay were doing everything they could to keep Katie's sister Melannie Lyon from her ex-husband Ronald Lee Haskell.
Katie had even travelled to Utah to physically remove Melannie from the man who had proven unpredictable, violent and capable of fits of rage.
But on July 9, 2014, Haskell knocked on the door of the Houston home. He was wearing a FedEx delivery uniform.
Stephen and Katie were out. At home were the couple's five children: Cassidy, 15, Bryan, 13, Emily, 9, Rebecca. 7, and Zach, 4.
According to a Harris County Police report issued the following day, Haskell forced his way into the home and held the children hostage until their parents returned.
He then tied all six of the Stays up and demanded to know where they were keeping his ex-wife. When they could not tell him, he shot the family one by one.
Stephen and Katie were killed, as were the four youngest children. But the bullet designed to kill Cassidy scraped her skull and left her bleeding but alive.
She played dead, police say, before Haskell left. Then she called 911 and saved the lives of other family members living nearby. Haskell had been on his way to Katie's parents' home to continue the carnage.
Ronald Haskell faces the death penalty if found guilty of the murders of six members of a Houston family in 2014. Photo / Facebook
Police responded immediately and, after a tense standoff, arrested and charged Haskell with carrying out one of Texas' most brutal mass murders.
TRIAL BEGINNING, DEATH ROW ON THE CARDS
Haskell, now 39, was charged with one count of capital murder for each of the six victims. Police say he had travelled to the family home in Spring, a suburb of Houston, with the plan to kill as many people as he could.
"Posing as a parcel delivery driver, Haskell forced entry into the home, holding multiple juvenile victims at gunpoint," the police statement read.
"Haskell held the juveniles at gunpoint until additional family members returned to the home. During the incident, Haskell opened fire on the family, killing six and wounding one.
"Stephen and Katie Stay, along with four juvenile victims, were killed during the confrontation."
Ronald Lee Haskell is accused of shooting and killing six members of the same family in 2014. Photo / AP
In a statement, Katie's father Roger Lyon said the family was "amazing and resilient".
"Stephen and Katie Stay and their beautiful children were an amazing and resilient family.
"They lived to help others, both at church and in their neighbourhood. We love them beyond words.
"Cassidy Stay, 15, who survived the attack, is expected to make a full recovery. We are grateful for this miracle. We are in awe of her bravery and courage in calling 911, an act that is likely to have saved all of our lives.
"She is our hero."
In the weeks and months after the slayings, the community raised more than $300,000 for Cassidy's future. She is now 19, engaged, and studying at Brigham Young University in Utah, the Houston Chronicle reports.
According to the newspaper, Haskell physically abused his ex-wife, sometimes in front of their children and on at least one occasion when she was pregnant.
The long-awaited trial, which began today, is expected to subject jurors to autopsy photos of the Slay family.
