SAN ANTONIO – A Kerr County judge signed off on a search warrant affidavit, allowing state troopers to investigate the Eastlands — the family that owns Camp Mystic — and their camp staff.
An attorney we spoke to who is not associated with the case says it is uncommon.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of it,” said Jonathan Chavez, an attorney with Jonathan Chavez Law.
“It’s hard to nail down who would be responsible, and there is also a lot of finger-pointing,” Chavez said.
The state investigation centers around the 25 campers and two counselors who died in the July Fourth floods.
Texas Rangers are now investigating whether camp leaders committed:
ManslaughterCriminally negligent homicideInjury to a childAbandoning or endangering a childDeadly conduct
It is important to note these are just search warrants for now. Criminal charges could be handed down depending on what the Rangers find.
“A murder charge carries with it, you know, up to life in prison. Manslaughter gets it down to 20 years in prison,” Chavez said.
Investigators want to see photos and videos from phones, text messages, and even logs from weather apps and web searches. Chavez says some of this information could be enough to bring charges.
“They would have to have a pretty strong showing that they were aware that this horrific flooding would be able to happen,” Chavez said.
Cile Steward was one of the campers swept away in the flood. Her body still has not been recovered.
An attorney for her family sent us a statement saying families of the victims have pleaded with the Eastlands for answers and claim they have “held hostage the information and answers owed to the parents.” The attorney said they were not surprised to see this search warrant.
Another attorney representing the Baker family, who lost their daughter Mary Grace, wrote, “This makes clear that investigators are taking seriously questions about the conduct of camp leadership.”
Attorney Joe Hoelscher said if there is enough evidence, charges are filed and there is eventually a conviction, it would make it easier for victims’ families to sue the Eastlands and other camp staff.
“If the same entity or person is sued in civil court for wrongful death instead of murder, the attorneys that are suing them no longer have to prove that they have liability,” said Joseph Hoelscher, an attorney with HGC Law.
Chavez says it could take years before enough evidence is collected because of the amount of information in staff members’ phones that would have to be gone through.