“I could smell it [alcohol] on him, and his actions indicated to me that he was intoxicated,” said Texas Ranger Tracy Murphree, who is investigating the shooting with Oak Point police. “There’s nothing right now to indicate that it was an intentional homicide, but the investigation is still ongoing.”

Waltrous

Duke Lawrence Watrous, 36, remained jailed Tuesday on charges of manslaughter, criminal negligence and tampering with evidence.

His bail was set at $200,000.

The victim, Ashley Watrous, was one of five children Watrous fathered with two women, and one of three children who lived with him at his Oak Point home, according to court records and police officials. Watrous and Ashley’s mother — identified in court records as Brandy Michelle Washburn-Rives, 29 — have been investigated for various child abuse and neglect claims in Texas and Oklahoma since 2003, according to records filed Monday in a Denton County court by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which includes CPS.

Their two surviving children — a 9-year-old boy and 1-year-old girl — are now in foster care, and CPS officials have asked for a court hearing to decide their long-term custody, court records show. That hearing is set for Jan. 7 in the 158th District Court in Denton.

“The department determined at this time that [the two surviving siblings] are in immediate and continuing danger if they are in the care of Duke Watrous or Brandy Washburn,” CPS caseworker Michelle Hiza said in an affidavit.

Watrous has declined all media requests to talk about the case, said Tom Reedy, a spokesman for the Denton County Sheriff’s Office.

Washburn-Rives could not be located for comment.

CPS determined in March that Watrous had physically abused a child from a previous relationship who lived with his mother but visited Watrous regularly, according to court records. It was unclear whether the agency tried to remove Ashley and her siblings from Watrous’ home at the time.

Watrous was arrested in April on a charge of injury to a child, but a grand jury declined to indict him in June, according to Denton County court records.

CPS spokeswoman Marissa Gonzales said she was unaware of any attempts by the agency to remove the children from Watrous’ home after the March investigation.

“In some cases, if you don’t have an outcry of abuse from the other children in the home and … they appear to be in good condition, you won’t necessarily have a legal basis to remove them from the home based on an injury suffered by another child in the home,” Gonzales said.

Police say Watrous was recklessly handling a revolver Thursday night at his Oak Point home when it discharged, hitting Ashley in the face and killing her at the scene. Her 9-year-old brother and 1-year-old sister were present when the shooting occurred, authorities say.

Watrous was jailed Friday on the manslaughter charge, and authorities added the negligence and tampering charges Tuesday.

The negligence charge was filed because one of Ashley’s siblings was “very close” to the gun when it went off. Watrous then tampered with evidence by moving the gun from the crime scene and locking it in a gun safe, Murphree said. Police later secured a search warrant and removed multiple guns from the home, he said.

Court records paint a picture of a family wrought by conflict and allegations of abuse.

A judge limited Washburn-Rives’ custody of the children after an investigation in 2003 found she had abused them, CPS caseworker Michelle Hiza said in an affidavit filed Monday. CPS investigators found that Washburn-Rives had emotionally abused Ashley and physically neglected Ashley and her brother, according to the affidavit.

The caseworker described Watrous and Washburn-Rives’ relationship as “turbulent” and said each has accused the other of abusing the children at different times.

Washburn-Rives told the caseworker that she was at Watrous’ home hours before the shooting and saw him drinking a beer, according to the affidavit.

Washburn-Rives admitted knowing that Watrous kept guns in the house, had an alcohol problem and became “aggressive” when he drank, Hiza said in the affidavit.

Washburn-Rives said Watrous had “mind control” over her that made her unable to make decisions about the children, according to the affidavit.

She also claimed Watrous physically abused her and recounted a time when he choked her to the point she “saw stars,” the affidavit says.

Watrous’ two children from a prior marriage are believed to be living with their mother, who is identified in court records as Aude Freeman. Her husband, Allen Freeman, said she would have no comment on the shooting.

“We’ve decided that the best thing to do is to let everything be played out in the court system instead of in the newspaper,” he said.

Aude Freeman also accused Watrous of abuse in court records related to their 2007 divorce and subsequent custody battle.

In an affidavit filed in March, she accused Watrous of physically abusing several of his children, including Ashley and their 7-year-old son.

Aude Freeman said the children’s counselor had made several reports to CPS since January alleging that Watrous had been violent with them.

She also claimed Watrous made multiple death threats against her husband through their children, and that he boasted about getting a concealed handgun license, according to the affidavit.

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com.

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Emphasis added by H4K Editor