Austin, TX
Texas shooting spree suspect asks to represent himself
![Texas shooting spree suspect asks to represent himself Texas shooting spree suspect asks to represent himself](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox7austin.com/www.fox7austin.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1280/720/shane-james-in-court.png?ve=1&tl=1)
AUSTIN, Texas – On Friday morning, a man accused of a multi-county shooting rampage in December appeared in Travis County court for the first time. Shane James, Jr. asked the judge if he could represent himself after a disagreement with his attorneys.
James’ attorney, Russell Hunt, Jr., said this was an unexpected development that appears to have come within the past 24 hours. He said it was a terrible idea for James to represent himself.
James walked into the 147th Travis County Criminal District Court looking significantly different from his mugshot from eight months ago.
Shane James, the man accused in December’s multi-county shooting spree, had his first Travis County court appearance on Friday, August 23.
“I want to represent myself,” James told the court. He says his attorneys, Michael Watson and Hunt, are doing things without his consent.
“I asked them to work with me, through me, they would show me first what they were doing, and they said no,” James said.
“In terms of making decisions about what experts are going to be hired, what witnesses are interviewed, what records are interviewed, interacting with prosecutors, that’s all stuff the lawyers do and the lawyers don’t need to get clearance from the clients to approach the case in that way,” Hunt said.
Hunt said they requested James receive a mental competency check, and he refused.
“I thought it was unnecessary, it’s unfounded, it’s baseless, there’s no reason for it and they told me that they don’t believe I’m competent,” James said.
“In cases where a person may be mentally incompetent, it’s not at all unusual for that person not to believe that they’re mentally incompetent, not to believe that they need any kind of psychiatric help. That’s not unusual,” James said.
MORE ON THE TEXAS SHOOTING SPREE
Texas shooting spree: A timeline of events
We’re learning new details about Tuesday’s city-wide shooting spree that started outside of an Austin ISD school. Police say four total people were killed in Austin, along with a double-homicide in San Antonio.
Judge Clifford Brown told James if he wanted to represent himself, he would have to have a competency evaluation regardless.
“What I’m going to suggest to you is that you work through your attorneys, and you speak with the expert psychologist that they have retained, and we can address that in the future,” Judge Brown said.
James currently faces four capital murder charges, two attempted capital murder charges, and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in Travis County. He also faces two capital murder charges and three family violence misdemeanors in Bexar County. Police said James killed his parents in San Antonio before driving to Austin and killing four more people and injuring two police officers and a cyclist in December.
READ MORE
“He’s in jail. He’s charged with terrible crimes. He does have a history of psychiatric disturbances,’ Hunt said. ‘The guy’s in a terrible spot, and he’s trying to do what he can to control his situation.”
If James is found incompetent, this case could be delayed for years until he receives treatment in the state hospital. Hunt said James’ refusal of the mental competency check isn’t delaying the case at this point because attorneys are still gathering evidence.
James’ next hearing is set for October 10.
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Austin, TX
Texas country music star holds free concert in Austin Aug. 23 — here’s how to attend
![Texas country music star holds free concert in Austin Aug. 23 — here’s how to attend Texas country music star holds free concert in Austin Aug. 23 — here’s how to attend](https://www.lonestarlive.com/resizer/v2/BFVEWPQI6NEPPAV7TV2RLMDOEE.jpg?auth=a44f4edb4b0fd190aa32f86ef9bf43dabd696a057d6fadc87a98b5930921ad96&width=1280&quality=90)
Country music singer and native Texan Miranda Lambert is bringing the honky tonk to Austin, Texas. Better yet, you’re invited to attend the free show!
To gear up for the release of her 10th studio album, “Postcards from Texas,” Lambert is hosting a free pop-up concert at Stubb’s, 801 Red River St., Austin, on Friday, Aug. 23. Having recorded the album, which serves as her label debut with Republic Records, at the iconic Arlyn Studios in Austin, it makes all the more sense for Lambert to host a pre-release party in the Capital City.
If you’re hoping to attend the show, you’ll first need to secure a wristband. To try your hand at snagging one for Lambert’s free concert, you can swing by the box office at Stubb’s starting at noon on Friday. Wristbands will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis, and there is a limit of one wristband per person.
Once all the wristbands have been handed out, there will be no additional wristbands distributed, and no one will be allowed entry at Stubb’s without a wristband. Doors for the show open at 5 p.m. on Friday, and the concert will start at 6 p.m.
Fans of Miranda Lambert can swing by Stubb’s in Austin, Texas, starting at noon on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, to get a wristband for the country singer’s free concert.Miranda Lambert | Courtesy of Republic Records
“Postcards from Texas” is due Friday, Sept. 13.
Speaking in a press release about the third single from the album, “Alimony,” which details a failing marriage in Lambert’s wink-and-nudge style, the Texan said, “My parents were private investigators in Dallas, Texas who worked a ton of divorce cases in highfalutin parts of town, so this wasn’t hard to write. I’d heard about it my whole life.”
You can watch the video for “Alimony” below:
Austin, TX
Brother of 1980 cold case victim speaks out after police identify suspect
![Brother of 1980 cold case victim speaks out after police identify suspect Brother of 1980 cold case victim speaks out after police identify suspect](https://images.foxtv.com/static.fox7austin.com/www.fox7austin.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1280/720/snapshot-2024-08-22T222606.656.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Brother of cold case victim speaks out
Charles Wolfe, brother of 25-year-old murder victim Susan Wolfe, spoke to FOX 7 Austin after finding out that law enforcement have finally identified his sister’s alleged killer after more than 40 years. FOX 7 Austin’s Angela Shen spoke with Wolfe in this “Missing in Texas”.
AUSTIN, Texas – The brother of a woman murdered in 1980 is speaking out after law enforcement say they have identified her alleged killer.
Austin police say they have identified a murder suspect in a cold case from 1980.
On January 9, 1980, 25-year-old Susan Wolfe enrolled at the UT Austin School of Nursing. Her brother, Charles Wolfe, describes her as a great spirit.
“She was working at the state hospital at the time and really cared about people. That was kind of a crossover for her, to get her foot in the door at University of Texas,” he said.
Suspect identified in 1980 homicide in Austin
The Austin Police Department has identified a suspect in connection to the 1980 murder of 25-year-old Susan Leigh Wolfe.
Austin Police say that on that same day, around 10 p.m., she was kidnapped about a block from her home while walking to her friend’s house.
A witness saw a car, described as a 1970 Dodge Polara, stopping and the driver grabbing her in a bear hug, putting a coat over her head, and forcing her into the car. The witness said the passenger door also opened, but didn’t see what they did.
Susan’s body was found the next morning in an alley on East 17th Street near Poquito Street. Police say she had been strangled, sexually assaulted, and shot in the head.
Charles was a junior in high school at the time.
“I was in disbelief, denial, thinking that must be some kind of mistake. Things like that just don’t happen,” he said.
MORE MISSING IN TEXAS
Missing in Texas: Cecilia Huerta Gallegos
The trial of a San Antonio man charged with the 2019 murder of his wife is scheduled for next week, but the victim’s remains have not been found.
APD had over 40 people of interest, interviewed at least six suspects, some as far away as New York State.
“It was really tough on our family. It was like an open wound that would fester,” Charles said. “After, I’d say a decade, our family had given up.”
Last year, police sent DNA for testing. They got the results in February, which eliminated the six known suspects. The results were then entered into CODIS, a DNA database of offenders, unsolved crime scene evidence, and missing persons.
In March, a possible match was found in Massachusetts: 78-year-old Deck Brewer, Jr. He’s incarcerated there on unrelated charges.
He told APD detectives he had been in Austin and San Antonio around the time of Susan’s death. He has been charged with her murder.
“I was shocked, I was dumbfounded. I was just ecstatic. It was, I tell you, one of the best days of my life,” Charles said. “It’s tempered with a little cautious optimism because we want to make sure that it’s justice delayed, but not denied. I want to make sure that we bring the perpetrators of this crime to justice ultimately.”
Susan was the big sister to two younger brothers. Their parents passed away without ever knowing who was responsible for Susan’s death.
“She’s still alive in the hearts and minds of anyone who ever knew her that was touched by her,” Charles said.
The case isn’t closed yet. Detectives still want to know who the passenger in the car was.
If you have any information, call the APD Cold Case Unit at 512-974-5250.
“We want to heighten the visibility of this case to let people out there know there’s still someone out there. There’s someone that probably knows this individual or has seen this car, knows the history of this case. I like to encourage them to come forward, to cooperate, to help bring these people to justice. Someone knows something,” Charles said.
Austin, TX
How people stayed cool without power on the hottest day of the year in Austin
![How people stayed cool without power on the hottest day of the year in Austin How people stayed cool without power on the hottest day of the year in Austin](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6e44b06/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3239x1700+0+29/resize/1200x630!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F2e%2Fb9%2Fed17c0ae41d4bbe2659ca2c10ec5%2Fheat-pl-082124.jpg)
Dunia Bautista was watching TV in her home in East Austin when her power went out.
“It’s really hot. It’s truly very hot,” Bautista said in Spanish. She sat on the porch with her kids, trying to cool off. “I bathed my baby because she’s vulnerable and young and was heating up, so I cooled her down,” Bautista said.
Wednesday was the city’s hottest day of the year so far and about 15,000 people were without power from about 5-9 p.m. in the East Austin and Riverside neighborhoods, according to Austin Energy. The utility company said high energy demand caused the outage.
The East Side can get pretty hot and suffers more from extreme heat than other parts of Austin. Without power, neighbors stepped outside to cool off, many fanning themselves on porches, while others packed up and left for places with electricity and running air conditioning.
Clint Muhlenburg said his power went out at around 5 p.m. and his house instantly warmed up. “I’d been sitting in the dark for a while and realized … this isn’t getting better,” he said, while loading his belongings and his dog into his car.
He thought the evening would cool things down a little, but when that didn’t happen, he made plans to head to a hotel. Muhlenburg said he had no idea when the power would be back and wanted better communication from Austin Energy.
“I know it’s probably a difficult circumstance for them but just communicating would be helpful,” he said.
Cooling centers in South Austin extended their hours until 11 p.m. in case people needed a place to escape the heat. They usually close at 9 p.m.
Wednesday’s heat overloaded a transformer, which helped prevent any serious damage to the system, but resulted in the power outage. Matt Mitchell, a spokesperson with Austin Energy, said the power was restored to all customers by 9 p.m. and crews checked on other systems across town to prevent similar power outages from happening.
“We are confident it will continue to operate as it should and we will not be in a situation like we were in yesterday,” he said.
When power returned to East Austin, a warm glow returned to neighborhood windows and Austin’s iconic moonlight towers flickered back on. Cheering could be heard from the street and some residents lit a firework in celebration.
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