Devin P. Kelley, who brutally slaughtered 26 churchgoers last Sunday (including an unborn child), was reportedly involved in an unresolved sexual assault case at the time of his deadly rampage.
In the aftermath of the Texas shoot mass shooting that left 26, including an unborn child, dead, and 20 more injured, authorities from multiple agencies have been looking into the background of gunman Devin P. Kelley. In the days since Kelley, dressed in black and armed with an assault rifle, walked into the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs and began firing on its congregants, much has been uncovered regarding the 26-year-old shooter’s past, including a past allegation of sexual assault.
As Heavy reports, Devin Kelley demonstrated a pattern of violent, disturbing behavior in recent years. Just three years ago, Kelley was court-martialed by the U. S. Air Force, convicted of domestic violence, and dishonorably discharged. His crime was cracking the skull of his infant stepson. It has been widely reported that the Air Force failed to report his domestic violence conviction to local law enforcement, a lapse in protocol which may have allowed him to purchase the weapon used in last Sunday’s carnage. Authorities believe that Kelley may have fired up to 450 rounds inside the church using an assault rifle that was once banned in the United States under the assault weapons ban of 1994. That ban was allowed to expire in 2004.
Now, it appears that investigators from Devin P. Kelley’s hometown of New Braunfels, Texas may have also missed an opportunity to curtail the church shooter before his devastating rampage. As CBS News reports, authorities are looking into whether a sexual assault investigation involving Kelley four years ago may have been “mishandled,” and the 2013 case is now under review.
According to Comal County Sheriff Mark Reynolds, his office received a report of a sexual assault on June 18,2013. The suspect in the case was none other than Devin Patrick Kelley. Deputies had reportedly been sent to his family home just before midnight on June 17 in response to the sexual assault allegations and investigated the case form three additional months. Kelley was never arrested in the case, and the Comal County Sheriff’s Office then ceased their investigation into the case, believing that Devin Kelley had relocated from Texas to Colorado. Sheriff Reynolds told local media that the sexual assault investigation into Kelley has not been handled since October 2013.
Reynolds, who became Sheriff in 2017, says that he is currently working to determine what information was used to make the determination that Devin Kelley had moved from the area in 2013, thus causing the sexual assault case to be labeled “inactive,” as well as why the investigation into the sexual assault allegations was not pursued even if deputies at the time believed the suspect had moved to Colorado. The sheriff is also in the process of investigating why the investigation of Kelley didn’t continue at a later date when it was determined that he was once again in the area.
Police reports indicate that authorities responded to the same home that they visited in connection with the June 2013 sexual assault in February 2014. The February 2014 interaction involved a domestic violence claim against Kelley, levied by then-girlfriend Danielle Shields. The pair would go on to get married
If Devin Kelley had been charged with and convicted of felony sexual assault, such a conviction could have prevented him from getting his hands on a firearm. Under federal law, anyone who sells a gun to a convicted felon can be punished by a year or more in prison. Comal County Sheriff Mark Reynolds claims that he is reviewing whether the Kelley sexual assault investigation was mishandled; it is unclear if those involved with the case could face any kind repercussions or punishment if it is determined that they mishandled the investigation.
In addition to his pending sexual assault case, cracking his ex-stepson’s skull and being dishonorably discharged from the Air Force, Texas church shooter Devin Kelley also spend a year incarcerated for domestic violence, received a citation for abusing his dog, and escaped from a mental hospital. Even so, he was able to purchase four firearms and carry out one of the worst mass shootings in U. S. history because of lapses in protocol and “slipping through the cracks.”
[Featured Image by Texas Department of Public Safety]
