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http://www.khou.com/news/local/galveston/stories/khou090901_tnt_galveston-standoff.1391e41c4.html
Mother, daughter among 3 dead after all-night standoff in Galveston
07:08 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 1, 2009
By Kevin Reece / 11 News
GALVESTON, Texas – An apparent domestic dispute that prompted an all-night police standoff in Galveston ended in tragedy with a mother, her boyfriend and her adult daughter dead Tuesday.
11 News Video
Mother, daughter among 3 dead after all-night standoff
September 1, 2009
Police said the deaths appear to be the result of a double murder-suicide.
It all started at a home at 38th Street and Avenue M. around 10 p.m. Monday.
Police responded to reports of gunfire. They found Joyce Randle dead in her front yard. They thought they heard movement inside the house and began trying to negotiate with the gunman whom they believed was still inside.
Eight hours later officers shot tear gas through the windows of the house and forced their way inside. They found Randle’s daughter Jacqueline, 21, shot dead in a back room and Joyce Randle’s live-in boyfriend identified as John Henry Newton dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot.
“That was my baby. I can't get my child back,” said Joel Randle who identified himself as Jacqueline’s father and Joyce Randle’s ex-husband. “That's my baby. I have to bury my child.”
Jennifer Reynolds / The Daily News
District Attorney Kurt Sistrunk talks with officers on scene of a deadly standoff in the 3800 block of Avenue M Tuesday.
Jackie Randle was employed as a food service worker at UTMB. Friends say Joyce Randle worked at the Galveston Home Depot.
"I was truly devastated,” said Joyce Randle’s friend Judith Tillmon. “I just can't understand why someone would do this to a person like Joyce...is such a wonderful person.”
Neighbors and family tell 11 News that Joyce Randle and her live-in boyfriend of two years were having trouble. Although there had been talk of marriage their relationship was reportedly coming to an end with Newton planning to move back to his native Texarkana by November.
A handyman doing odd cleanup jobs after Hurricane Ike, his pickup truck with the name of his company "Helping Hands" written on the side, was still parked in Randle’s driveway.
Police believe all three died at his hands last night. What investigators, neighbors, friends, and family do not know is why.
“He never said anything about hurting anybody because he always said he didn't want to hurt her, emotionally, you know,” said Newton’s friend and co-worker Anthony Dearmon. “So this is a surprise. Man he cared about the girl. I think it's bizarre. Because they was honey and baby and sugar last week."
"I just wish it wasn't a tragedy like it was,” said neighbor Rodney Hudson fighting back tears.
“Everybody's happy around here. Peaceful neighborhood.
Sad day in Galveston. Sad day right now."
Late Tuesday night neighbors and friends began lining the chain link fence around the house with flowers and stuffed animals. A candlelight vigil was planned late Tuesday night at Shiloh AME Church.
Note: Cross posted from [wp angelfury] Whos Killing Families?.Permalink
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