Texas mom who shot dead her two daughters let her estranged husband live because she 'wanted him to suffer'

Christy Sheats shot her daughters Madison, 17, and Taylor, 22, on Friday
Her husband Jason Sheats was distraught after watching his children die
Sheriff says she left him alive to punish him as she 'wanted him to suffer'
Neighbors said he had begged his wife not to shoot the girls after a dispute
Christy Sheats was shot dead by police after she refused to drop her gun
The mother, 42, was an outspoken gun rights advocate, it has emerged
Tensions were high after Taylor announced plans to marry her fiance - which her mother forbade
Christy Sheats called a family meeting but pulled out a gun and shot girls

Published: 17:58 EST, 29 June 2016 | Updated: 19:47 EST, 29 June 2016

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A Texas woman who fatally shot her two daughters spared her estranged husband because she 'wanted him to suffer', a sheriff said Wednesday.

Christy Sheats, 42, murdered Madison Sheats, 17, and Taylor Sheats, 22, after calling a family meeting at their Fulshear home, west of Houston, Texas.

Investigators say she had 'had ample time' to shoot Jason Sheats during the horrific attack but had chosen to keep him alive.

'She accomplished what she set out to do, and that is to make him suffer,' Fort Bend County Sheriff Troy Nehls said during a news conference.

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Christy Sheats, who fatally shot her two daughters, spared her estranged husband Jason because she 'wanted him to suffer', a sheriff said Wednesday

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Christy Sheats (left) who fatally shot her two daughters spared her estranged husband Jason (right) because she 'wanted him to suffer', a sheriff said Wednesday

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The 42-year-old shot her daughters Madison (left) and Taylor Sheats (right) after a family dispute

Tension among the family had been brewing and Taylor had recently argued with her mother about plans to marry her boyfriend Juan Sebastian Lugo.

Her mom wanted to ground her daughter and prevent her from seeing her boyfriend, while her husband had argued it was inappropriate to ground someone of Taylor's age.

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On the night of the shooting, on June 24, Jason had arrived at the home after his estranged wife called a family meeting.

He told officers he believed she was going to discuss their crumbling marriage and possible divorce with their daughters. Instead, Christy Sheats pulled out a pistol and shot their daughters.

Jason and his daughters fled out outside where Taylor collapsed, witnesses said.

Neighbors said the dad, 45, could only watch in horror as his wife shot their children on his birthday.

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Jason Sheats (center) escaped unscathed but was taken to hospital because he was distraught

Taylor (pictured) was a student at Lone Star College

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Madison (pictured) worked as a babysitter

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Madison (right) worked as a babysitter, while Taylor (left) was a student at Lone Star College

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Christy followed them out, reloaded her gun and shot Madison in the back, a witness said.

Madison was pronounced dead at the scene, while Taylor was airlifted to a hospital in a critical condition, where she later died.

A responding officer later shot and killed Christy when she refused orders to drop her gun.

Jason escaped unscathed, but he was taken to hospital due to his distress.

A police officer heard him pleading with his wife before she was shot dead, neighbor Fazz Zainuddin told Click2Houston.

'[The officer] heard the dad say, "Don't do this. They're our kids",' Zainuddin said.

'The cops were behind the trees and behind the cars, and they told the mom to put the gun down and obviously she did not,' Zainuddin said.

He said Christy had walked towards her daughter Madison's body still holding the pistol.

'I guess the cop was afraid he was going to shoot her again,' he added.

The sheriff's office released 911 calls this week that captured the panic in the neighborhood on Friday.

In the first call, a woman is heard crying, 'Please. Forgive me. Please. Don't shoot.' After a scream, she cries, 'Please. I'm sorry,' and 'Please. Don't point that gun at her.'

Another woman is heard saying: 'I promise you, whatever you want,' before the call is disconnected.

Christy Sheats (pictured) was killed by a responding police officer after she refused to drop her pistol

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The incident occurred following a family dispute that spilled out onto a residential street in Fulshear, Texas, on Friday

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Christy Sheats (pictured) was killed by a responding police officer after she refused to drop her pistol

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Christy (right with Madison left) refused to drop her pistol when authorities arrived on the scene, and a Fulshear police officer was forced to shoot her

In a second call, a woman is heard saying, weakly: 'She shot 'em.'

A neighbor during a third call describes the daughters lying in the street in front of their house. They describe Christy kneeling over her eldest daughter and shooting her.

Officers had responded to a 911 call around 5pm on Friday. They arrived to find the two daughters, who had already been shot, lying outside the home in the 6000 block of Remson Hollow Lane.

Christy, originally from Decatur, Alabama, was next to them with a gun in her hand, apparently preparing to shoot one of her daughters again.

The officer shot and killed her after she refused to drop her pistol, authorities said.

Sheriff Nehls said Christy's life appeared to unravel in 2012 following the death of her grandfather, who she saw as a mentor. Her mother died a few months later.

Her grandfather had given her the .38-caliber handgun used to kill her daughters. Sheats had previously applied for a gun license to carry the weapon but was denied, the sheriff said, adding that authorities are investigating why she was denied.

Justin said that his wife of more than 20 years had been suffering from severe depression and would drink heavily.

She was admitted on three separate occasions to a private mental health facility and had been suicidal and suffered from depression.

Sheats also had been unemployed since 2012.

Christy and Jason had recently reunited after being separated, another neighbor told ABC13.

Meanwhile, other neighbors in Fulshear expressed shock when they heard of the shooting.

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Police arrived to find the two daughters lying outside the home in the 6000 block of Remson Hollow Lane

'The mother was nice,' one said. 'You wouldn't expect if they told you this is what was going to happen.'

Austin Enke, who went to high school with one of the girls, said he thought he heard fireworks at first.

'It's crazy. The neighborhood has never seen this kind of thing before. It's always quiet,' he told KHOU.

'This is surprising. They never showed any kind of thing that was wrong with them whatsoever,'

Christy posted a photo of her two daughters on Facebook in September last year.

She wrote: 'Happy Daughter's Day to my two amazing, sweet, kind, beautiful, intelligent girls. I love and treasure you both more than you could ever possibly know.'

Tributes poured in for Taylor, who went to Lone Star College, and Madison, a student at Seven Lakes High School, on Facebook on Saturday.

Taylor's friend Joanna Higgins wrote on their high school alumni page: 'I'm in utter shock. She was so talented and had a heart of gold. God rest her soul and those mourning her loss.'

Madison's former teacher Whitney Mae Bruce wrote: 'My heart is broken this morning to find that my sweet Madison Sheats lost her life.

'Always positive and smiling, Madison quickly became one of my favorite students four years ago while teaching for the first time in Katy.

'A wonderful student/person/babysitter will be missed enormously. Please pray for her father.'