First Assistant District Attorney Brent Webster
The Williamson County District Attorney’s office recognized victims and their family and friends at the 4th Annual Angel Tree event December 8 at the courthouse. Nationally, the Angel Tree was instituted by President George W. Bush in 2001, and in 2013 several local law enforcement agencies collaborated to create a special event for victims and residents here in Williamson County.
The tree starts out completely bare except for the angel on top and family and friends bring personal and memorial ornaments for those who have been hurt by or lost to violent crime in our county.
First assistant District Attorney Brent Webster hosted the event and spoke about the changes in this year’s event. “We scaled back a little this year due to the transitions we’re going through in our office but once you start a tradition like this, you have to keep doing it. We are honoring the victims of violent crimes and they are the most important people in this building.” Webster says these events are important because when violence occurs, there is a lot of attention given to it and the families, “But as time goes on, things quiet down and it just leaves a hole in these people’s lives. We want to assure them they and their loved ones are not forgotten.”
Michele Kelley, widow of Officer Chris Kelley of Hutto places ornaments in his memory with their children.
Bob Stapleton is the grandson of Mildred McKinney, who was a victim of homicide in 1980. Her case was unsolved, and cold, for more than 30 years. Steven Allen Thomas was convicted in 2014 and is now awaiting the death penalty in Huntsville. “My grandmother’s case was a cold case for so long and we felt like she had been forgotten. Being here and rekindling her memory every year, and seeing people who remember her is a good thing.” Stapleton was emotional about his parents having passed before the case came to a resolution but he is using his family’s struggle to help introduce, and hopefully pass, legislation that will reduce the threshold of criminal trespass that warrants DNA testing. “My grandmother’s killer had been arrested many times on misdemeanor charges. When he finally crossed the police one too many times and they elevated his crime to a felony, there was an immediate hit in the DNA database. We could have caught him years before if samples could be taken from certain lesser offenses.”
The decorated tree will remain in the jury room for the holiday season.
Pictured: Top, 1st Assistant D.A. Brent Webster
Bottom: One of many memorial ornaments for homicide victim Mildred Fry McKinney • Above: Michele Kelley, widow of Officer Chris Kelley of Hutto places ornaments in his memory with their children.
