Share on FacebookShare on X (formerly Twitter)Share on PinterestShare on LinkedInCORYELL COUNTY, Texas (KWTX) - The Coryell County Sheriff’s Office on April 30 announced the arrest of Cody M in the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl that began when the girl was five years old Smith was booked into the Coryell County Jail on a first-degree felony charge of aggravated sexual assault of a child the sheriff’s office executed an arrest warrant in Gatesville to take Smith into custody An investigator with the sheriff’s office was assigned the case on April 15 after the 11-year-old girl made an outcry to her friend and her friend’s mother about Smith sexually abusing her The document states the girl revealed the abuse began when she was five years old and continued for years detectives learned that several other girls had come forward to accuse Smith of sexually abusing them when they were younger said Smith sexually assaulted him when he was a boy “This arrest shows the Coryell County Sheriff’s Office continued resolve to diligently investigate and support the successful prosecution of violent criminal predators,” the sheriff’s office said Texas (KXXV) — The City of Gatesville shared an update Thursday on efforts to repair damages and secure funding from FEMA related to flooding in May 2024 25 News told you about the issues last year, including a historic church impacted by the storms The city says it is now working with its fourth project manager with the Federal Emergency Management Agency 17 locations and more than 90 damage areas have been identified Among the locations damaged and still waiting to fully reopen include: The city says many of the damaged areas are under consideration for FEMA funding How to watch Texas high school baseball: Lampasas vs May 3Data SkriveWe have an intriguing high school game in TBA with Lampasas High School hosting Gatesville High School How to watch Gatesville vs. Lampasas baseballGatesville and Lampasas will hit the diamond on Friday, May 3, at 12 a.m. CT. Don't miss out on any of the action with NFHS Network The NFHS Network gives you access to live high school sports around the country Follow your favorite team and never miss a game Want to track your alma mater, local team or family member's school throughout the playoffs? NFHS Network has high school baseball streaming live plus on-demand replays and highlights of all the action from thousands of schools across America Watch Lampasas vs. Gatesville on NFHS Network! All NFHS Network events are available to watch online at NFHS Network and through the NFHS Network Mobile Apps for iOS and Android and TV Apps for ROKU your Neighborhood Reporter for Gatesville and Lampasas County Texas (KXXV) — Like many Central Texas communities Gatesville has experienced significant changes as the city grows City Manager Brad Hunt reflected on how it has evolved over the years “What it looked like was a small West Texas town It had the prison and Fort Hood at the time as borders and it was a prison town for many years,” Hunt said Hunt said the landscape of Gatesville has changed I would say that growth – interest in growth – here in our town has increased pretty significantly.” Hunt said that support is essential for the continued development The word is out amongst developers right now and the word is: we are open for business,” he said Hunt added that the city is hoping to give that growth a smart direction Gatesville had seven developments in the works with several new projects announced for the coming years But the city is not in the business of building businesses They are in the business of encouraging folks to come and provide a service in town I think that’s an important distinction,” Hunt explained The City of Gatesville provided an update on the latest development projects: residents and city leaders alike are balancing the challenges of expansion with the preservation of what makes the community special “I really appreciate the patience that the citizens have for change and growth in town it is not something that everyone wants to see we will always be keeping in mind as we see this growth or potential growth coming,” Hunt said May 1Data SkriveWe have an intriguing high school game -- Lampasas High School vs How to watch Gatesville vs. Lampasas baseballGatesville and Lampasas will hit the diamond on Thursday, May 1, at 7 p.m. CT. Don't miss out on any of the action with NFHS Network Watch Gatesville High School all season long on NFHS Network! Lampasas High School baseball scheduleMay 1 vs. Gatesville High School: 7 p.m. CT | TBA, TX | NFHS NetworkMay 3 vs. Gatesville High School: 12 a.m. CT | TBA, TX | NFHS NetworkWatch Lampasas High School all season long on NFHS Network! Team schedules reflect available data from NFHS and may not include every upcoming game Texas (KXXV) — “I've lived here my entire life chasing your dream kind of thing,” Niki Foster said Niki Foster started the Green Rooster Coffee Company out of a trailer it is a permanent local coffee shop in Gatesville It’s a spot that brings neighbors together After the announcement that a big-name coffee chain is coming to the community We opened Green Rooster to be different from the normal coffee style They added they are confident in continued support from the community That support poured in from neighbors for both shops across social media “We already have two great spots,” while others said I wouldn’t know what to do without the support of my community,” Foster said She said she is excited to see Starbucks come to town as it signifies growth and the beginning of a new chapter for the community for other businesses to open up in our community – it obviously means we are doing something right because we are bringing new stuff into our area The Starbucks is expected to be finished by May 2025 It will be located at the corner of South Highway 36 and East Main Street a cold case has been solved following the discovery of human bones in a remote area "You don't want to think of anybody being lost or missing or their friends or family wondering about them," Heather Ashley it did rattle them because you want to know what happened." Julia Middleton reported that her 21-year-old son "It turned into more than that," Georgiana Cleverley "We soon realized it was probably more than him just hanging out with friends and not contacting his family We followed the leads as best we could – there weren't many – and it became a cold case." It wasn't until 2022 that Coryell County sheriff's deputies were called out to a property by a caller who found bones law enforcement not only confirmed it to be human remains but also found a pocket knife and a piece of a t-shirt that was one of the first things we thought of that might be Cole,' because of the vicinity of where the remains were found," Cleverley said Through a lengthy analysis and comparison with his mother's DNA The lingering question is: Why and how did this happen As for Middleton's loved ones and the community the hope is that this brings closure and peace and letting those who cared about him and those that followed the story know there was an ending but it wasn't an ending anybody wanted," Ashley said Gatesville PD removed Middleton from the Texas Crime Information Center missing person record late last week Texas (KXXV) — City leaders in Gatesville are considering annexing additional land into city limits to accommodate the community’s anticipated growth During Tuesday night’s City Council meeting City Manager Brad Hunt highlighted the urgency of keeping pace with development “This is the second or third annexation request this year," Hunt said "These indicators said that growth is coming to our town." One request comes from a local family on Stillhouse Road who is asking the council to extend city utilities to their property in exchange for allowing the construction of duplexes on a portion of their land so when folks want city services and want to be part of the city and their property is close enough to the city to be able to do that then we will be able to consider that request,” Hunt said annexing this land will help support growth through additional rooftops The City Council believes annexation is the best use of the land The ordinance passed during the meeting and will be read twice in upcoming sessions before it is finalized by the end of February “The goal is to have smart growth that makes sense to the public “We don’t want to change the history or character of the town We know it is — so managing that growth is our goal.” UPDATE - 2/12/25The Gatesville Fire Chief tells 25 News Neighborhood Reporter Allison Hill the victim of the fire is 61-year-old Jeffery Paul Valentine The chief says the investigation continues as a cause has not yet been determined UPDATEThe Gatesville Police Chief confirms a man was found dead inside a building in the 3300 block of State Highway 36 on Monday morning Firefighters struggled to gain access into the building because of the large number of items inside the building The department says crews responded to the fire shortly after 8 a.m The body of a man was found in a section of the building being used as a residence A hair salon at the end of the structure was damaged by smoke The State Fire Marshal is investigating the cause of the fire ORIGINALThe city manager for the City of Gatesville confirmed to 25 News there was a structure fire on Monday morning The Gatesville Fire Chief says an update on the situation will be provided Monday afternoon 25 News has a crew headed to the scene and will provide more information as it becomes available Texas (KXXV) — Two books were found on a shelf with water damage and that's what we want as well," Gatesville City Manager the temperature and humidity were not controlled While Hunt said there were not any reports of health issues the city immediately shut down the library for testing and inspection “We were very fortunate we caught it in time before we had any serious mold issue I commend the staff for bringing that to my attention and the council for supporting us to make the environment safer for the people and for the books," Hunt said Lone Star Mold was hired by the city for testing Their results showed the library's air quality indicated no harmful levels of mold Hunt said they want to make sure it is ready to reopen safely to serve our neighbors they will be inspecting all books and materials "We will take all the steps we can to reopen and be better than ever The building we will fix and reopen," Hunt said Hunt said it will be hard to have the library closed for longer than expected he wants to give our neighbors a safe place to learn The library is a daily part of life in Gatesville It's one of the greatest things we have going as a city We will make sure the services remain," Hunt said The City of Gatesville sent out an updated release “The Gatesville Library will remain closed for cleaning and inspection Lone Star Mold Testing Company (contracted by the City of Gatesville) conducted mold testing at the Gatesville Library to determine whether mold was an issue related to the known water damage Lone Star’s air quality and other testing parameters listed in their report indicated that the library remains free of unacceptable levels of mold and thus less costly and time consuming means of abatement than would otherwise be required for “black mold” are acceptable.   we are taking steps to inspect all books and materials We will inspect each item prior to restocking as well as clean or replace all the furniture and fixtures in the building itself Our intent is to reopen safely for limited services City Manager Brad Hunt said: “It appears that several factors led to this issue and each was addressed with increased levels of concern and action.  First it appears the library’s HVAC system had not been effective for the past year in terms of humidity and temperature control which was exacerbated by the long-term rainy and humid conditions this past spring we addressed that issue early in my Interim tenure by allocating funds to completely replace the HVAC system That project continues but will be on hold until all other abatement measures are conducted the spring weather caused roof damage on the already-aged roof The City filed an insurance claim related to the roof as well as listed it on our FEMA damage assessment prior to the discovery of the damaged walls and books once damage was observed inside the building itself we immediately closed the library and took precautionary testing measures.” IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR LIBRARY PATRONS: · Some library programs will be relocated to other venues and notices for changes will be posted on the Gatesville Library and City of Gatesville’s Facebook pages.   and DVDs may be returned to the Library drop box · Electronic devices and activity backpacks may be returned to the City of Gatesville City Hall lobby and staff will clean them upon intake.   · NO LATE FEES OR FINES WILL BE ASSESSED DURING THE TIMEFRAME OF THE LIBRARY’S CLOSURE.   · Any past fines for water damaged books (estimated to be less than five (5) total in the past year) incurred by patrons will be refunded Hunt concluded:  “We appreciate our patrons’ patience while we work hard to address this issue.  We will take all necessary measures to ensure that the library and all its contents are clean and available to the public as soon as we possibly can.” Texas (KXXV) — Severe spring storms tore through Gatesville in early March leaving widespread destruction and devastating floodwaters that reached nearly 30 feet One of the hardest-hit areas was Faunt Le Roy Park which had been closed since the storms due to significant damage “Folks have experienced several closures that are frustrating to them and us but I think it’s important that folks know that we’ve taken the steps that FEMA requires to get the funding to be able to reopen things that people expect to be able to use,” Brad Hunt FEMA returned to Gatesville to assess and confirm the damage More than 90 individual damage reports were documented ranging from areas requiring repairs totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars to smaller areas with damages under $100 “It’s important for us to remember that the grants they would grant to us for the repairs of our damages would be 75% on their half and 25% on our part City leaders are now awaiting final approval for FEMA funding to begin repairs and set priorities for restoration Gatesville is inching closer to rebuilding what was lost and returning the city to normal “The big thing for folks is we do want the park to be open," Hunt said "I know folks miss being able to walk down there and we want them to get there as soon as we can Faunt Le Roy Park is not the only area facing significant damage FEMA has also assessed damage to Brown Park Texas (KXXV) — A toll road scam is spreading through local communities leaving victims worried about their finances recently received one of the fraudulent messages claiming he had an unpaid toll bill People work hard for their money – like I do,” Ward said The text message threatened late fees and DMV reporting unless payment was made within 12 hours “I was trying to finish paying my other bills I knew I owed them a couple of dollars because we went to Oklahoma several months back “If they get 1,000 people to 2,000 people to reply to that text They’ll get a lot of money out of everybody.” 25 News’ Allison Hill reached out to the Texas Department of Transportation to learn what residents should look out for if they receive a similar text TxTag does not send emails or texts about due balances They advise not clicking on any links or responding to suspicious messages Residents who receive these messages should report them to the FBI Ward says he received the same advice but has a message for those behind the scam Just get yourself a real job – that’s all you’ve got to do,” he said Texas (KXXV) — Sheila Forrest watched helplessly Monday morning as her home of 34 years was consumed by flames The fire erupted as temperatures plummeted into the teens presenting difficulties for firefighters battling the blaze or at least that’s what the truck said," Brandon Forrest The intense cold brought additional challenges for fire crews We basically had to watch it burn for a while," Sheila said City Manager Brad Hunt provided a statement to 25 News: Brandon praised the efforts of the firefighters and other responders "They were here until after the sun came up," Sheila said Despite the fire being extinguished and the emergency vehicles long gone the Forrest family is left with little more than ashes and memories once a home filled with decades of history "I can’t leave this property," Sheila said Brandon also reflected on the emotional toll of losing the family home it’s hard when half your life’s been at one place She spent a good half her life here," he said As the Forrests begin the long process of rebuilding their lives, they have launched a GoFundMe to help cover the costs Those housed in the O’Daniel Unit in Gatesville have had their lives touched by a particular Catholic order Lawrence Wright is a Pulitzer Prize winner who’s written a lot about the state he calls home Part of that series focuses on the prison system, and Wright focuses in on one part of that women’s death row in a new article for The New Yorker The article begins with a description of a Catholic deacon His assignment was to help her live until she had to die.” Listen to the interview above or read the transcript below This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity: beautifully written and deeply researched article how long have you been preparing to tell this story it started in February and it’s just been a year It’s not easy to do stories in the prison system because you can only interview an inmate for an hour on a Tuesday every 90 days But it was hard to keep in touch with them because 90 days would elapse before I had the opportunity to meet again prisons offer religious services for inmates but your story begins with this kind of ad hoc ministry at the O’Daniel Unit in Gatesville What type of religious options did female death row inmates have before Deacon Ronnie last week showed up there are chaplains and different religious figures sometimes come through and minister to the women and other people who are incarcerated in Texas So there’s an active chaplaincy going And Ronnie Lastovica has just been one of many but he’s maybe the most persistent I’ve ever encountered And who are the Sisters of Mary Morning Star it’s an order that broke off from a community in France called the Community of Saint John because of the rather heavy handed attitude of the priests So the women broke away and Pope Francis ordained them in 2014 There are about 300 worldwide and 30 different convents around the world The thing I was struck by is that the average age for a nun in America is 80 So if there’s a future for sisterhood in the Catholic Church They wake up between 4 and 5 in the morning and then they have a group prayer and then they spend most of the day contemplating and praying And when they get together to peel vegetables before lunch they take their silence very seriously and they spend their life in contemplation and prayer » GET MORE NEWS FROM AROUND THE STATE: Sign up for Texas Standard’s weekly newsletters So this deacon we mentioned reached out to the nuns and invited them to visit these women on death row And you described the connection between the women on death row and the sisters “Each of the women had been sentenced to death they were condemned to live with one another.” And it was the same in a different way – chosen way – for the nuns Can you talk about all the ways these two groups of women connected when they met it’s fascinating because the nuns and the inmates they both live in what they call “cells.” And their schedules are very similar – very regimented there are other subtle things that I didn’t really catch up on until Sister Lydia Maria There’s a sense of meeting each other where they are There’s nothing that would make the women on death row feel inferior or unbeautiful because the nuns renounce all of that I think even before the the nuns made their appearance religion was a part of the life of most of the women on the row but not with the kind of focused intensity that the nuns brought to it Melissa Lucio is one of the women in your story There’s been a very public outcry about her innocence in the past two years You also go into the back stories of others on death row And I wonder if familiarizing us with their life stories and not just their crimes was something you set out to do I think each of these women has a dramatic story behind her and there are awful parts of their stories in many cases – their heinous crimes that they have committed I don’t know if they actually committed it or in some cases there’s Kimberly Cargill who set her babysitter on fire but the babysitter was already dead – apparently died of an epileptic seizure The medical examiner could find no cause of death ignoring apparently the fact that the victim had bitten her tongue and her cheek You have Melissa, who now the district attorney, the judge and the defense attorney all say that she was innocent And it’s been known for a couple of years now that she was very likely innocent didn’t have a strong objection to the death penalty But in looking closely at each of these cases I see very troubling signs that make me think that the moral authority to impose an extreme penalty like this is just not available an Oblate is a follower of a Catholic order who is not a member of it And this was a very fascinating experience When Melissa Lucio had her execution date and she got to within a couple of days of being executed the nuns decided that they would offer her oblature which is kind of formal affiliation with the sisters – this not actually becoming a nun But other women wanted to join in Oblates or with the nuns as well So now all seven of the women on Texas death row are Oblates of this Order of Mary Morning Star Does that mean these women on Texas death row right now are accepting prayer requests the nuns have what they call a mail room in the convent in Waco where they receive these prayer requests And sometimes these requests come through email and sometimes they’re just slipped under the door and they share those with the women on the row And they also share them with the sisters around the world So there’s a worldwide prayer network and it includes the women on death row If you found the reporting above valuable, please consider making a donation to support it here. Your gift helps pay for everything you find on texasstandard.org and KUT.org ©2024 Texas Standard. A service of the Moody College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin | Contact us How to watch Texas high school softball: Burnet vs Burnet High School will meet Gatesville High School in TBA How to watch Gatesville vs. Burnet softballGatesville and Burnet will take the field on Saturday, April 26, at 2 p.m. CT. Don't miss out on any of the action with NFHS Network Want to track your alma mater, local team or family member's school throughout the playoffs? NFHS Network has high school softball streaming live Watch Burnet vs. Gatesville on NFHS Network! All NFHS Network events are available to watch online at NFHS Network and through the NFHS Network Mobile Apps for iOS and Android and TV Apps for ROKU