Details emerge as fifth person dies in shootings

Just hours after a fifth person died Monday from last week’s two-county killing spree, more details began to emerge about the former security guard and mother of three believed to have shot four people before turning the gun on herself.

Dekitta Holmes had struggled with a divorce, unemployment and drug use before she apparently killed four other people in Fort Bend and Harris counties, according to a family friend.

“She lost everything,” said a family friend who asked not to be identified. “And in losing everything, she lost herself, too.”

In the weeks leading up to the shootings, Holmes had become “really unstable,” the friend said.

But others said they’d seen nothing wrong with the 29-yearold mother.

“A few days prior, and she was so happy, goofy and picture ready,” said longtime friend Delia Ledet, who suggested depression as a possibility. “Never in a billion years would I think she would do this,” said Annetta Dwellingham, a close friend of another of the victims, Carolyn Holmes.

Grisly finds

Just after 7 a.m. Friday, police responded to a home on Mount Pleasant for a welfare check.

Dekitta Holmes, who police said appeared to be the shooter, was found dead along with her stepfather, Robert Wesley. Her mother, Laverne Holmes, was initially wounded and then hospitalized, but she died Monday, according to family and the medical examiner.

A few doors down, police found the body of 42-year-old Jocheralline Murphy. It’s not clear how he may have been related to the Holmes family.

Just before 10 a.m., officials in Fort Bend County completed a welfare check in Fresno, where they found the body of 48-yearold Carolyn Holmes, Dekitta’s sister.

In the middle of the morning’s chaos, according to Ledet, Dekitta Holmes had called a relative, admitting to a quadruple shooting and asking that her kids be taken care of. Afterward, the relative called 911 and police headed out for the welfare check that ended with a series of grisly finds.

‘Loved her children dearly’

In the days since the slayings, a fuller portrait of the family has begun to emerge.

Carolyn, Dekitta and Laverne all had worked in security, according to family friends.

About a year ago, Laverne had a stroke and lost her ability to speak.

Carolyn worked at the Port of Houston for some time, Dwellingham said. And that’s where the two single moms met and bonded.

“We became the best of friends,” she said.

Carolyn loved shopping and sometimes spent holidays at Dwellingham’s.

Later, a bad car accident left her disabled.

Dekitta had gone to school for criminal law and justice but had been out of a job at the time of the slayings, family and friends said.

Lewis Williams, one of Dekitta’s friends, described her as a “good girl that let bad dudes in her life that she let bring her down.” He said he wasn’t sure if she’d been seeing anyone at the time of her death.

Ledet described Dekitta as a “great person.”

“Her personality and sense of humor left a lasting impression on everyone she came in contact with,” she said. “And she loved her children dearly.”