Danielle Shields-Kelley is the wife of Devin Patrick Kelley, who was identified as the shooter who walked into the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday and killed at least 26 people while wounding about 20 more. There was a domestic situation going on within the family and the in-laws.. (Lisa Krantz | San Antonio Express-News). According to local law enforcement, Kelley had become estranged from his second wife, who at times attended the church. But after years of watching her daughter plead for help, only to defend Devin when she tried to intervene, Michelle said she can't be sure Danielle's apparent change of heart is genuine. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. The man reportedly lived in his parents $1 million home, according to the New York Times. Devin Kelley then went to First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs and killed 25 people, more than half of whom were children. In the last two months, neighbors said they had heard bursts of rapid-fire shots coming from the direction of the Kelley home. You can change your choices at any time by visiting your privacy controls. Click here to read more about Danielle. Armed with a Ruger AR-556 assault rifle and dressed in black tactical gear, Kelley opened fire during the churchs morning worship, killing at least 26 people and injuring 20 more. He was always talking about how people who believe in God were stupid and trying to preach his atheism, Nina Rosa Nava, who posted on the site, was quoted as saying in the New York Times, adding that she unfriended him because of it. CBS News reported that Kelley has a wife named Danielle Lee Shields. Wake up to the day's most important news. "If I could take everything, all the pain, and hold it on my own I would, so nobody else would hurt. "I just shot up the Sutherland Springs church," he said. According to a profile on Indeed.com, Shields was a teacher for toddlers at First Baptist of Sutherland Springs from June of 2009 to March of 2013. Danielle Shields Kelley: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Most hid under the pews. Michelle Fields, Kelleys mother-in-law, has a P.O. Danielle still retains Devin's last name. Covering for Pastor Frank Pomeroy wasBryan Holcombe, his wife Karla also a close friend of both Michelle and Sherri, was killed by Kelley along her husband, their son Marc Daniel Holcombe, 36, one-year-old granddaughter Noah Holcombe, and their pregnant daughter-in-lawCrystal; three of Crystals five children, alsodied in the shooting as well. Michelle had lost three children through complications of pregnancy, and had one adoption fall through. A profile for the woman on Indeed.com describes a passionate woman whose highest values include being honest, trustworthy and courteous to all persons. Under a section where the website states she was a coach for Special Olympics from 2007-2013, it reads: I provided the fairest and most positive training and competitive experience for every Special Olympics athlete. He wanted to talk about atheism and guns. Across New Braunfels, flags flew at half-staff Monday outside churches, RV parks and gun stores. Police say a friend alerted authorities that Danielle had texted to say she was being abused by her boyfriend and that subsequent texts back to her later went unanswered. The page also said Shields was once a coach for Special Olympics and a behavioral leader in the past, and that she volunteered with the elderly. Authorities say Kelley was estranged from his wife's family and had . It has not been confirmed if the two were separated or having marital problems, however, a source told Heavy that the womans family didnt approve of Kelley. ", Case Leal, 8, of La Vernia, looks at stones, each etched with the name of one of the 26 victims, along one side of First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs on May 10, 2018. After the shooting in November, officials said there had been a "domestic situation" between the shooter and his mother-in-law before the massacre in which the suspect had sent the woman threatening texts. Crosses with the names of victims are seen outside the First Baptist Church, the scene of a mass shooting that killed 26 people in Sutherland Springs, Texas. (Lisa Krantz | San Antonio Express-News), Media: Lisa Krantz, San Antonio Express-News, Devin was caught sneaking weapons onto a New Mexico base. Also known as Danielle Brassfield. You just mind your own business.. Kelley served his sentence, which ended up being less than 12 months, at Miramar, a military prison in San Diego, California, and then returned home to New Braunfels. Roughly four months later, Kelley was charged with cruelty to animals while living in an RV park in Colorado Springs, reports the Times. "He just had a lot of demons or hatred inside of him," she told "Inside Edition.". Michelle adopted Danielle through Child Protective Services when she was 4 years old. After they married in 2014, Devin Kelley accompanied her everywhere. Along the way, Kelley also faced an animal cruelty charge in Colorado and was named as a suspect in a Comal County rape complaint. Blood pooled on the floors. "He was really different, and off," she said. And then there's times where I don't even I just, can't. The discovery of at least 60 voter registration applications for people who were dead or did not authorize them has led to the arrest of two Jacksonville men, the State Attorney's Office said . We know that he had made threatening texts from him, and we cant go into details about that domestic situation that is continuing to be vetted and thoroughly investigatedthis was not racially motivated, it wasnt over religious beliefsthere was a domestic situation going on with the family and in-laws. Willeford said if coming to church brings her peace, she should continue to come. The atrocity is the largest mass shooting in Texas history. "He was shutting down," Danielle said. She reported receiving no complaints about him during his nearly six weeks on the 4 p.m.-to-midnight shift at the River Road resort not far from the Kelley family home. When he walked up to me, we were just talking about animals. A bouquet of flowers lies at the base of a roadblock as law enforcement officials work Monday at the scene of the shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Home. A San Antonio woman who brought her two children along as she smuggled more than 100 pounds of methamphetamine to the Alamo City has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers stand outside the First Baptist Church. We lost our 14-year-old daughter today and many friends.. Members of the FBI investigate the shooting scene. Police records on the burglary showed that there were no signs of forced entry and that Michael Kelley later asked that the case be closed. Those who survived the shooting are still grappling with the aftermath. They pleaded with him to stop. My family will suffer because of his coward actions. She said it's the reason she overdosed on pills her senior year, in a suicide attempt. He harassed me anytime I was in school, she said. "I was like 'Oh man, this guy's cute. After Devin was court-martialed by the Air Force for cracking his stepson's skull, he admitted to the assault in a self-recorded video. We, AOL, are part of the Yahoo family of brands. There were no warning signs, said Claudia Varjabedian, the office manager, who did not realize Kelley was the church shooter until about an hour after he failed to show up for his Sunday shift. I had always known there was something off about him. The barn has recently been converted into an apartment for his son returning from overseas military commitments to allow him a transitional start back into the civilian lifestyle, Deputy Garry Noegel reported. I wish there was something that we would have picked up that maybe could have helped somebody else, said Claudia Varjabedian, for whom Kelley worked as a security guard at a local resort until last Saturday. #DanielleLeeShields #DevinKelley #SutherlandSprings #MichelleShields. Read San Antonio Express full interview with Danielle Kelley on its website. Danielle Lee Shields is the former spouse of Devin Kelley. Others say they sensed trouble from the get-go in Kelley, 26, who had a history of behavioral problems dating to at least middle school. Some said they had blocked him on Facebook after receiving inappropriate notes or tiring of antagonistic posts. He passed a Department of Public Safety background check at both locations, the employers said. COVID origins? Rene Moreno, right, holds back tears as he speaks with a Texas state trooper at the scene of a shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. After she divorced Mr. Brassfield Mrs. Shield married Benjamin Shields; in April 2003; together they have one son, David. He was court-martialed for fracturing his stepson's skull, served time behind bars, was kicked out of the military and divorced. After killing at least 26 people in the church, Kelley was found dead in his car. Kris Workman will likely never walk again. Law enforcement officials gather near the First Baptist Church following a shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas. (Lisa Krantz | San Antonio Express-News), San Antonio Express-News immigration reporter Silvia Foster-Frau details her thoughts on interviewing the wife of Sutherland Springs shooter Devin Patrick Kelley, accompanied by audio excerpts of their conversations, on, Danielle Kelley plays with their children, Michael, 3, and Raeleigh, 1, at her home in Cibolo on July 10, 2018. The alleged victims identity is redacted. And he said to Michael: "I'll be right back.". When the world was unfair, they assured each other that it wasn't their fault. Here is what we know about the suspected attacker. The male involved is identified only as Devin in the report, which says responding deputies were told that it was a misunderstanding. It wasnt the last time deputies were sent there. He seemed annoyed that we were even there, Jackson recalled by phone from Detroit on Thursday, describing Kelley as less than helpful in directing them to their rental house in the dark, rural setting. He kissed Raeleigh. He got upset easily, she said. He ranked 260th out of 393 students in the New Braunfels High School Class of 2009, with a grade average of 77.6, according to school records. And I felt alone. he shrieked, firing rapidly. But you would be surprised, when everything's gone, how much I miss it," she said. Records show that Kelley was the middle child and only son of three kids born to Rebecca A. Kelley and Michael S. Kelley. Recommended articles. But after the Air Force, he was different, Danielle said. Kathleen and Fred Curnow watched Devin leave the church from the window of their house. Some of those who grew up with Devin Kelley in this sprawling city northeast of San Antonio had seen him change over the years once just an outsider, he suddenly seemed hostile and argumentative. my athletes. I must have positive interpersonal Every disagreement, every annoyance, became a fight. Law enforcement officials gather near the First Baptist Church following a shooting, Nov. 5, 2017, in Sutherland Springs, Texas. Michelle Shields, Danielle's mother, said in an interview earlier this year that Devin was a controlling, abusive husband and Danielle was a wife who often accepted it. Throughout their marriage, Danielle never went anywhere alone, she said. They both remarked on how he was always the one to speak his mind, while she tended to avoid confrontation. The three huddled around the phone. We just talked and hung out and then we got really close. Investigators examine bullet holes in the front door of the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Tuesday. They told him the same. Devin scrambled into his gray SUV. FOLLOW MORE IBT NEWS ON THE BELOW CHANNELS, IBT Fast Start - Let the best of International News come to you. But in this stretch of the Texas hill country, that is common. Danielle Kelley told the newspaper she would defend Devin Kelley if Shields tried to intervene. He was always talking about how people who believe in God were stupid and trying to preach his atheism, one of his Facebook friends, Nina Rosa Nava, posted on the site, saying she unfriended him because of it. Danielle maintains that he didn't do it, that Devin's first wife, the baby's mother, injured the child. Johnny Langendorff, who chased the church gunman, waits to be picked up from the scene where Devin Kelley was found dead in Guadalupe County, Texas, on Sunday. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, talk with Johnnie Langendorff and his girlfriend, Summer Caddell, third from right, as they visit with first responders, family, friends and victims outside the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs. He grew more depressed. According to Texas marriage license records, Kelley was married to Danielle Shields on April 4, 2014 in Comal County. But Danielle said she had no idea Devin was capable of carrying out such an attack, despite several red flags through the years. He was, she said, happy at one point, normal, your average kid. I didn't want to have the label of my spouse being a mass murderer," she said. To be completely honest, Im really not surprised this happened, and I dont think anyone who knew him is very surprised either.. Among the dead was Lula White, Danielle's grandmother. And Michael will have a fit if someone says they'll be right back, because those were his father's last words. The case was dismissed. She also recalled an incident in which the police were called because the man had struck the dog in the head. "This is not the first mistake and this is not the last mistake of probably many to come.". When she persuaded him to attend church services, including at First Baptist, he would laugh during sermons. My dogs, they would be outside, and we would hear, Bim-bam, bim-bam, bim-bam, bim-bam, he said. "But you would be surprised, when everything's gone, how much I miss it.". He was the father of at least two, a son and a daughter. That was totally him and, based on our 30-second interaction, he did not seem like a nice guy, wrote Elizabeth Nitz, his sister, Jackson said. In November 2012, Kelley was convicted of two charges of domestic assault and sentenced to 12 months in confinement at Naval Consolidated Brig Miramar in San Diego. First published on August 13, 2018 / 9:15 AM. Former classmates remembered Kelley as an outsider who seemed to have gotten darker after high school. He killed himself. "I don't think people change," he said in the recording. "I was just like 'You let us fall.' Tessa Kelley aka Tessa Brennaman, is the young ex-wife of Devin Patrick Kelley, the 26-year-old gunman who opened fire at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, killing 24 people. "Because Devin was everything in my life.". To the point where I don't really like men," Danielle said. Long-lost ship found at the bottom of Lake Huron, confirming story of tragic collision, TikTok to set default daily time limit of 60 minutes for minors. Devin Patrick Kelley (pictured left, and in a mugshot from a previous crime) walked into the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, dressed in full combat gear, and began shooting Sunday. He was weird and narcissistic. "He was like 'I can't, I've killed so many people. Devin told Danielle he loved her. Devin and Danielle married in April 2014, when he was 23 and she was 19. The congregants were singing "Are You Washed in Blood?" 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