A warrant filed in Bexar County last month provides new insight into what law enforcement believes led Shane James Jr., a former U.S. Army officer accused of fatally shooting six people in a multicounty rampage Dec. 5, to kill his parents in Bexar County, along with details about his schizophrenia diagnosis.
James now faces a charge of capital murder of multiple people in Bexar County, according to copies of the charging documents filed May 16 and obtained by the American-Statesman.
Authorities say James, 35, killed his parents — Phyllis James, 55, and Shane James Sr., 56 —at their eastern Bexar County home before driving to Austin, where he killed four more people — Emmanuel Pop Ba, 33; Sabrina Rahman, 25; Katherine Short, 56; and Lauren Short, 30 — and injured three, including two police officers.
James currently faces seven charges in Travis County: four capital murder charges, two attempted capital murder charges and one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Travis County Jail records show he faces three out-of-county, undetermined misdemeanors, along with the capital murder charge in Bexar County.
James told deputies he felt 'impending doom' leading up to shootings
James' siblings told Bexar County sheriff's deputies that he suffered from schizophrenia and continued to "mentally decompensate" after his discharge from the Army for "unacceptable conduct" in 2015.
This is the first time a specific mental health diagnosis for James has been stated, as other documents have not said what the diagnosis was or had the information redacted.
The document noted that James told Bexar County deputies about two weeks after the killings that he was feeling "impending doom and it got worse" leading up to the shootings.
James told deputies he had been watching YouTube videos and putting notes on the wall "in anger" on the morning of Dec. 5. He went to ask his father a question, and his father "made a joke." That is when James went to his room, grabbed his gun and killed both of his parents, the charging document says.
He dragged the bodies into the bathroom, the document states.
James then took his mother's keys and money. A neighbor's surveillance video showed her vehicle leaving the house about 7:40 a.m. Dec. 5, the document states.
After James was arrested that day, a detective with the Austin Police Department told him police were attempting to contact his parents and said they saw James "smirk," according to the charging document.
James' siblings arrived at the house Dec. 5 to find law enforcement officers there, which they said surprised them. They had showed up at the home after failing to reach their parents several times earlier in the day.
Deputies found "words, phrases and notes thumbtacked to the wall" of James' room along with several journals and a laptop. Details on what was written on these notes were not included in the charging document.
Sandra Pickell, a public information officer with the Bexar County sheriff's office, did not answer questions about what was posted on the walls, what videos James was watching and what question he asked his father, noting that certain details are "intentionally omitted to safeguard certain information."
James expected to make court appearance in August
The update on James' charges in Bexar County was first heard during a pretrial hearing Tuesday in the Travis County 147th District Court. Lawyers were working through a "voluminous" amount of evidence, said James' court-appointed lawyer, Russ Hunt Jr.
It's unclear who will take the lead in the case, Hunt said, noting that it will need to be worked out with the judges and prosecutors from the two counties.
James has not been formally charged by Bexar County, Pickell said, because he is still in the custody of Travis County and hasn't been taken to Bexar County yet.
The Bexar County district attorney's office declined to comment, citing a pending criminal case.
Hunt said there have been no discussions of a plea deal or whether the death penalty will be an option. He said he last spoke to James about two weeks ago and said he's been focusing on his faith. The attorney added that he has not been told a motive behind the killings.
James did not appear in court Tuesday, but he is expected to make his first appearance at the next hearing in August, Hunt said.
