We now know the identities of the five
family members killed by an escaped inmate.
It was a man and his four grandchildren
who had just arrived to the family
home in Centerville. Yesterday.
Jason Miles is live at Tomball High School
tonight where we are told all of the kids
were students in Tomball ISD, Jason.
That's right guys. The family lived here
in the Tomball area, their ranch home,
or a little vacation getaway was up
in Leon County near Centerville.
This parking lot behind Tomball High School
started filling up just before 5:00 o'clock.
Many from the community and mostly
students coming out to kind
of gather and grieve together.
And as you mentioned, we're getting
our first look at all five victims.
Take a look at the photos, one of them,
18 year old Waylon Collins well known
athlete here at Tomball High School.
He was killed.
The family says along with.
Waylands 16 year old Brother Carson
and 11 year old brother Hudson.
Their 11 year old cousin Bryson also killed
along with the grandfather of all four boys.
66 year old Mark Collins Crime Stoppers
of Houston arranged a news conference
at an area church just a short time
ago with the Collins family and a
longtime pastor and also a friend.
Here's a little bit of what was
said just a few minutes ago.
Those those kids were bright, shining stars.
We coached them through baseball.
And these next few days are
going to be tough on all of us.
This is absolutely one of
the most gut wrenching.
Scenarios that I've dealt
with, and I've seen a lot and been
through a lot and I cannot imagine.
What this family is going through?
Nobody can imagine what this
family is going through.
Can you imagine the mother and
father of the three Collins brothers,
those three brothers?
Their only children?
I stopped by the families home earlier.
That's also where the families Pastor,
spent many hours over the last
couple of days or since last night.
At least.
He says this is a family of
deep faith and faith will help
get them through what is to so
many people so so unimaginable.
Reporting.
Live from Tomball,
Jason Miles KHOU 11
news story we've been
following for several weeks.
Turned out in the worst way possible.
Jason thank you today.
Balloons placed on the fence of the
property where the family was killed.
Let's go live now to Marcelino
Benito as investigators made their
way back to the property today.
Marcelino.
Well then that's right.
This small town has been living
in fear for the last three weeks.
As this manhunt unfolded,
and today they're just absolutely
horrified and stunned as to how it ended.
The Leon County Sheriff's Office
tells us that yesterday afternoon
they did find the bodies of those
five family members inside a home on
this ranch property near Centerville.
Now, this ranch is located off Hwy 7.
It's located actually just half a
mile from where Gonzalo Lopez first
escaped that prison bus last month.
Investigators say Lopez broke
into the home sometime Thursday.
Gained access to several firearms.
He assaulted a 66 year old grandfather.
His 18 year old grandson and then
those three other younger grandsons.
After those murders he took their
white pickup truck on the property.
Hours later he was spotted South of
San Antonio and after a short police
chase he was killed in a shootout with
police back in Centerville relief.
The manhunt is over but grieving
underway for these five family members,
neighbors and strangers have been stopping
by outside the ranch to drop off flowers,
balloons and bears to pay their respects.
And honor the victims.
This has been crazy, especially with having
two kids of my own. It's been scary.
We moved out to the country for safety,
not to have a murderer that killed 5
people. It's going to be felt
through the whole community.
Now, there are still a lot of
unanswered questions about how
Lopez managed to avoid a
large search effort for three
weeks when he was only a
half mile away from where he
originally escaped.
TDCJ says they will conduct a
thorough review of their protocols
to figure out how exactly
Lopez escaped in the 1st place.
The Leon County Sheriff's Office tells
us this is an ongoing investigation
and they're being assisted by DPS.
As soon as we get more information,
we will pass it along to
you back to you guys.
Marcelino, thank you.