Houston massacre: Hundreds attend funeral of family gunned down in mass shooting
Cassidy Stay was the sole survivor of the attack that saw her parents and four siblings killed
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Your support makes all the difference.Cassidy Stay, the 15-year-old girl who played dead as her parents and four siblings were shot dead, led mourners as her family were buried today.
Hundreds of mourners attended the service at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as, inside the church, six white coffins were placed with large photos of the deceased on top.
Mother Katie Stay, 34, father Stephen, 39, and siblings, Bryan, 14, Emily, nine, Becca, seven, and Zach, four, were killed by her former uncle and brother-in-law, Ronald Lee Haskell, who is accused of tying up each family member before shooting them.
Jeff Stay, the brother of father Stephen Stay, spoke on behalf of Cassidy and said that the 15-year-old wanted those gathered to know that her father loved the drums and "was known as the bug smasher." Her brother Bryan, "loved his tablet," and brother Zach adored sea life.
Katie Stay’s younger sister, Aubrey Westwood, also shared messages from Cassidy, saying that her sister Emily loved Hello Kitty, and Rebecca's nickname was Becca Boo, except on the Wii, where her user name was 'coconut.’
Westwood added: "Becca was worried that Zach would get bigger than her.
"He passed her a little bit ago."
Also in attendance was Melannie Lyon, the sister of Cassidy Stay’s deceased mother and ex-wife of Ronald Lee Haskell, 33, who has been charged with capital murder in connection to the killings.
The massacre, which happened last Wednesday, saw Ronald Lee Haskell allegedly force his way into the Stay family home, tie up all seven family members and demand to know the whereabouts of his ex-wife Lyon.
When the family members said that they did not know, Haskell is alleged to have shot parents Stephen and Katie Stay, along with their five other children.
While the other family members died almost instantly, the bullet had only fractured Cassidy Stay’s skull, and the 15-year-old was able to play dead until Haskell left.
Cassidy then rang the emergency services and told police that Mr Haskell was planning to travel to Cassidy Stay’s grandparents’ house to murder them, according to investigators.
Police tracked Haskell down, and after a short car chase, negotiators were able to persuade him to surrender peacefully.
On Saturday, Cassidy Stay made her first public appearance since the event at a memorial service in her home town of Spring, Texas.
At the event, Stay said that her family were in “a better place” and was sure that she would “see them again one day".
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