6. The Stevens Family

For the first time Angela's sisters Jackie and Kimberly along with cousin Amy share their memories of Angela and how the murder changed their lives forever.

Actress Julie Dove, also from Princeton, Texas, shares this very personal story of how Angela's murder changed the lives of Angela’s family and the small town forever.

Transcript

 This program contains descriptions of violence, drug use, and sexual themes.  

Previously, on True Texas Crime. On December 12, 1988, John waived his right to a trial and accepted a plea bargain agreement. He agreed to plead guilty to first degree murder, and was sentenced to serve 35 years with no eligibility for parole. 

If myself, and three other members of the jury, had not taken a very hard stand on 25 years or a hung jury, then Rodney Kaiser would be out on parole and basically a free man. 

On December 7th, 1988, Lee was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 75 years. After 30 years and two months, Lee was granted parole in 2018 and allowed to move to Mississippi where he had family. According to WTAV news on Monday, October 18th, 2022, during a traffic stop in water Valley, Mississippi, 51 year old Lee Henson was arrested for trafficking fentanyl, cocaine, and possession of a gun by a felon. 

I've shared in a previous episode, this podcast has been in the works for several years. There are many reasons it took so long, but I think fear is probably the number one reason for the delay.  Fear of failure, fear of judgment, fear of making mistakes. My mom died in 2023, and that's what really jump started the process for me to finally tell Angela's story. The loss of my mom ignited a feeling of urgency in me that helped me push through my fears. But when I was 13, my dad died, and that trauma led me away from reality, and I escaped into television. I could tell you more about the residents of Salem, Pine Valley, and Port Charles than I knew about what was going on in my own family. 

I'm sharing this with you to illustrate that I think death and trauma impact each of us in different ways. One of the first thoughts that comes to mind when someone dies is that it's sad,  but death also evokes anger and even hate. My dad died of a sudden heart attack, which was considered a natural death. My mom died from complications of dementia. She had been ill for a while, so we knew it was coming. But it was still very painful. 

As you listen to this episode,  think about the emotions you felt when you lost someone you loved. As painful as this probably was for you, can you imagine how incomprehensible it would be if they were taken from you in a brutal act of violence by someone you knew? 

In this episode, we're going to hear directly from Angela's family on how losing Angela, and in such a savage, unthinkable way, has changed their lives forever. 

The interview you're about to hear was recorded March 10th, 2023 in Malakoff, Texas, at the home of Angela's baby sister, Jackie. This was the first ever interview recorded for the podcast. 

Angela's cousin and best friend, Amy, was also present for our chat. We've previously shared portions of her interview in Episode 2. This is the first time either of them really had a chance to share how they felt about what happened. When this interview was recorded, Angela's dad, Jack Stevens, was still with us

And as I shared in Episode 5, he was found dead in his home by his youngest daughter, Jackie, on July 8th, 2024.  The same day we released the trailer for this podcast. With Cathy Stevens passing in May of 2021, Jackie and her older sister, Kimberly. are the only remaining members of the family. 

This is True Texas Crime: The Significant Life of Angela Stevens,  Episode 6, The Stevens Family. 

Jackie, how old were you when your family moved to Princeton? 

I was six years old when we moved to Princeton.

And where did you move from? We moved from McKinney. 

So had you started school in McKinney or is Princeton where you started school? 

I started kindergarten in McKinney and then, first grade, I was in Princeton. So, I had two sisters. Angie was four years older than me. Kim was eight years older than me. Mom and Dad owned a carpet store in Princeton. And, um, that's basically what we did. You know, that's. when we lived there in Princeton. 

And you knew a lot of people that lived by you, right? 

Yes. A lot of our family lived out there. My aunt and uncle.  Four or five cousins at the time. Um, my grandparents, my mom's parents, lived across the street. And then my great grandmother lived behind my grandparents. So we all were just right there together. 

Did your family, like, go to church, or? 

The only religious person in our family was our Meemaw.

And she was faithful to her religion. She was a Jehovah Witness. She went to church every time the doors were open. 

Oh wow. Yeah. Okay. 

Yeah, so when we had holidays, she technically was not celebrating with us because it wasn't allowed, but she was always there to eat the food and watch us open presents.

What was it like with everybody living out there beside you? 

We loved it out there. Literally, when I look back on it, it was, it was the best upbringing I could have ever imagined. I mean, all we did was sun would come up, parents didn't care what we did. We could go get on our dirt bikes, ride anywhere we wanted, as long as we were home by dark, and so we were all over the place. All over the place out there. 

What was your relationship like with Angie? 

Well, I mean, she was so much older than me. I was the kid who got on her nerves all the time. But she, we also had good moments, too. I mean, she would take up for me if I ever needed to be taken up for. But she would also, you know, give me a good whoopin' whenever she was irritated by me. 

What's one of your favorite memories of Angie? 

It was the summer before she was, uh, she was gone, um, July 4th. We did fireworks together. 

What are you guys doing fireworks out by the house? 

We were. We were doing it in the front yard. And, um, gosh, I remember it actually pretty vividly. She was lighting blackjacks and throwing them at me. I remember. But I guess that's probably, I mean, that's not really my best memory, but that's just one of the memories that just sticks with me because it was so, it was pretty much the last thing that we did together. 

Let's talk a little bit about the Chandlers and what you remember about Angie hanging out with, uh, the Chandler kids or you hanging out with anyone in the Chandler's family and then how Lee was a part of that family. What you remember of it. 

The Chandlers lived across the pasture.You could see their house from our house. You know, Stacey and Angie were pretty close in age. And then of course, John hung around too. I mean, they, they were all friendly. I didn't hang around them just by myself, but when we would do group things like play basketball, you know, go swimming in the cow pond, you know we we, we did things together I was the little tag along that probably nobody wanted there, but I was there they couldn't get rid of me  We did kid things together, you know growing up out there  

Do you remember how long like you feel like that you knew Lee, like what, a year or two, or do you just you know?

I was so young it seemed like we knew him forever when we were out there, so, I mean, it just seemed like he was, he was just there a lot. He was pretty, he was pretty comfortable around my parents. You know, they, they always made him feel welcome.  

Do you remember thinking like, oh, that's my sister's boyfriend, or oh, that's a boy my sister?

I thought it was her boyfriend. Yeah, I mean, I, I, I didn't like him. I mean, I even didn't like him as a kid, probably because I was jealous of the time he got. I don't know, but I, I, I never really, I guess being 12 years old, I really didn't care either way if there was a boy there, but I just, I never really liked him, honestly. I, I just didn't. I, I thought he was smug and I just didn't like him. I thought he was kind of cocky and I always thought, actually, I remember telling him, he's so ugly. Why do you even like him? I mean, I'm a 12 year old kid, so. 

Kari and I read in the court cases where that Angie had, uh, gotten in trouble for sort of, like, taking your mom's checkbook and some stuff like that. Do you feel like your mom and Angie, like, started having, like, a different kind of relationship as Angie got a little older? 

I would say that mom and Angie were actually closer than  a lot of moms are with their kids. Um, mom treated Angie like she was more of her friend, not her daughter. Um, mom, that's why there weren't a lot of You know, rules in our house. She wanted to be her friend. She would let her do pretty much whatever that she wanted to do. But, um, when Angie would do bad things or get caught doing something wrong, my mom never told my dad. She hid things from her. So they were really on a real tight end. friendly type of basis in it. From what I remember. You agree?

Yeah, I agree. 

So if there would have been a more, you know, a little bit more discipline, the outcome of things probably could have been differently. No doubt about it. It, I hate to think that, but …

And what about you, Amy? I mean, you guys seem like a very close, extended family. 

We are, we grew up Sunday dinners, um, you know, every Sunday dinner at our grandparents house.

And so when did that kind of, I guess, want to say, split happen? In that like Angie started maybe going to drinking parties and you were still just like, oh, I'm a party, but not a drinking party person. 

Really, it it, I think the turning point for us was around eighth grade. That's whenever I noticed that she was had a different group of friends, you know, and you know, was I jealous? Absolutely. You know, here she is getting to do all these fun things. And I'm kind of like, Oh, I'm the, I'm the dud, but she was always the outgoing one, always Miss Personality. And so really she could walk in a room and fit in anywhere that was her. And so she had a different group that, you know, I was more shy and reserved, so I didn't really fit in with that group. And so, that was a big separation. 

Angie was getting labeled into a group, and you were labeled in that same group or different group, or, tell me about that. 

No, I was definitely labeled in a different group.

And, we always thought it was unfair, because, had Angie had sex, yes. Was it with her boyfriend? Yes. And where's the line? Where does it, you know, where do you cross it? Yes, it was, you know, small town. People talk. She was labeled. It just, it was. And whenever I saw what happened to her, it made me not do it. That's, you know, because it was, it was not a positive. It was a negative. And, you know, which was unfortunate. 

Now you got to remember small town living, everybody's at the same church on Sunday morning, you know, and I'm not bashing church at all, but I am going to say. It is, in a small town, when you're seeing those same faces every Sunday morning while you are praising Jesus, you've got to remember that those are the same people that are having conversations behind your back, and, and it's, it's hard.

But also, like, how many people were you sitting next to in church or in youth group that, you know, were banging each other in the pickup truck in the field the night before? And yet they're sitting there going, Yes, ma'am. Hello, Mr. Preacher. Nice to see you. Yes. I'll be here to volunteer for whatever. And you know.

The labels don't stop, though. I mean, I have a 16 year old daughter right now.  I have so many kids at my house. They all speak very freely with me. And those labels are still there. 

Let's talk a little bit about the leading up to the night of Angie going missing. What do you remember about that, Amy? Since you're older, I'm going to ask you first.  

What I remember is, and she got grounded, and I don't remember what she got grounded for. That's the funny part, but we were supposed to, she was either going to come to my house in Richardson to stay for the weekend, or I was going to go to my grandparents house or her house and stay there, and so we could see each other, because she was grounded.

And  so my mom said yes, that we could hang out, and we would figure out logistics on how we were getting from Richardson to Princeton, and we didn't talk that night, and I thought, that's weird. And then the next night came and went and we didn't talk and I thought, well, she's really in trouble, you know?

And so then my mom comes in to my room and says, did you talk to Angie? And I said, no. And that's whenever I found out my aunt had called  and said that Angie is missing. I didn't think too much about it. Well, then my aunt calls me back. And then, she says, call Lee, see if he's seen her.  He won't answer. He won't talk to me. He won't answer my calls. 

So she gave me Lee's number and I called him.  And I said, Lee, I said, have you seen Angie? And he says, no, I haven't seen her. Last time I saw her, she was at Allsup's gas station getting in a car accident. maroon Monte Carlo with two guys I didn't know. 

Jackie, what do you remember about leading up to that night, the last night you saw her?

I don't have a real vivid memory of this specific night. I have a memory of once she had been gone a few days. Mom was really upset and she was like, I feel like something's wrong, something's wrong. And 12, so they didn't tell me a whole lot of stuff. Um, but I do remember her crying. I knew, I do remember her worrying. I do remember her thinking, my God, did she run away again, because she had ran away before. Um, I think really my mom just had a really bad feeling that it was bad, you know, she just, because I think moms just kind of know. At some point in time, and I couldn't tell you the exact amount of days, mom called one of her friends who was an investigator.

Larry Dennison. 

Larry Dennison. Yep, it was Larry, yeah. 

Jackie, what do you remember about the night your family found out that?

Um, actually, I remember Larry telling my mom that they, they found a body, and he thought it, it could have been Angie, and this is weird because it's a small town, so you wouldn't think this would happen twice. They found the body, they did whatever they do to check it, and it wasn't her. Then when the hay baler made his, um, call in to whoever he called in and said that he thought he had found human remains, he told my mom the story, and my mom, and this is from what my mother told me that happened, and he told my mom, this is definitely not going to be Angie. This is like an older, 20 something year old body, you know, that sort of thing, so we, we, we're really pretty sure that it's not her.

And then, um… 

We sent for dental records. 

The next thing I really, I remember vividly because I, I remember him pulling up and walking up on the porch and the look on his face told my mom everything. He didn't have to give her one word and then that's when just, you know, our life went shit, pretty much. I mean that's just when  everything just went bad and then that's when we found out that it was her, the dental records, like you said, and uh, I remember mom coming into my room, and she said, I'm sorry, I don't even know if you can understand me.

She said, you gotta go talk to your dad,  and let him know that he still has a kid left, because I think he's gonna kill himself. And so I did. Which was weird, I mean, I guess it kinda put a lot on me, but I went and sat with my dad, and I cried with my dad, and I said, you can't die, because I need my dad. Sorry. So, um,  that's the things that I remember. Um, really, I mean, it didn't, that wasn't the only time I did that. I mean, for years, I always had to remind my dad that I'm here and I still need you. So, please don't, don't kill yourself. I mean, it was a reality. Like, my dad really just wanted to die. He felt responsible, you know, because he was dad and he was supposed to protect her.

So, my mom was a rock. She was broken, but she, you know, she was, I think, mentally stronger than my dad. And when I hit 38, I was like, wow. I'm at the age right now where mom lost Angie. She's my mom. She always, I always thought my mom was old, you know? And I'm like, she was so young, you know? And so that when I turned 38, I thought of that, and of course now I got Danny, she's 16, and I'm like, wow, she's, this is my baby at 16. If something happened to my daughter, oh my gosh, I couldn't deal with it, you know? So anyway, I'm kudos to my mom. I think my mama was strong. 

Amy, what do you remember about finding out it was her body? 

You know, I had been to a pool party with some friends with my new friends in Richardson, Plano and I came home, and my mom was there, my dad was there, and my mom's best friend was there. And she, I, of course, you know, 16, you go running in your room, and  you know, you just always think everything's going to be okay.

So in my 16 year old mind, my mom follows me in my room, and she, and my dad's right behind her, which is odd. I'm like, dad never comes in my room. Mom says, Amy, they found Angie. So I said, um, finally, where, where was she? Where is she? And mom said, Amy, she's been shot.  So I said, I've got to go to the hospital. Which one? Where is she? And she started crying, and mom said no. 

I do, I don't remember the scream that I let out, but I remember my dad came over and grabbed me, and he hugged me, like I don't, I've never been hugged like that. I don't remember the car ride, the car ride there. I remember pulling up to the front of the house, and my aunt and uncle were out on the front porch, and Larry Dennison was there. 

And you were sitting on the porch swing with your mom and I, uh, I got out of the car and I was walking up the steps and Larry was telling  your parents bye and I just like collapsed in your dad, in Uncle Jack's arms and  every time he saw me he always saw Angie. So, there was just something there that, that transpired that day, but I looked at Larry as he was walking down the stairs, and I said, Lee did this. 

And my mom grabbed my arm, and she said, wait about this, you can't accuse people. And I said, you weren't on that call. You don't know what, what he sounded like, what he said,and even though I would try to tell her, she didn't get it.  And that was the first time that I ever realized that Angie was really gone. That, that, that's when it hit me. Is that, that hug with my uncle that I will never,  I mean, I will never be able to tell you what that felt like. 

Jackie, what do you remember about how your, uh, mom and dad reacted when they heard that John and Rodney were involved and then Lee, ultimately? 

All I remember, really, is just my parents crying, crying, and crying. And just not knowing what to do. You know, I mean, I just remember a lot of hurt, a lot of crying. I mean, that's  really all I got on that one. 

How soon do you remember Leaving Princeton after? 

It felt immediate and it kind of really was because that happened in July. We moved into our home in Mabank. on Halloween night. So October 31st, we left. 

The one thing you got to remember is with our family, we were all so close. And like I said, those Sunday dinners were everything. And my grandmother, our grandmother had passed away in March of 88. Angela got murdered in July of '88. Our family was broken. And I mean, everybody was broken and the cousins, I mean, we've lost our, our cousin who we're close to. I mean, you know, Jackie's lost a sister and, you know, it, it was a break that I don't know how you really come back from. And I'm not sure that we really ever as a family did. 

We didn't as a family. I mean, once we moved away, our family gathering stopped. 

So then, you, because you said you moved in October, so you went back to school in Princeton in like August, uh, September. So you were in school in Princeton for a couple of months. And so, tell me how that was. 

Yeah, it was, it was weird. I mean, it really was. I didn't want to go. Mom made me go to school. She's like, you just got to go to school. But I never left school early like I did once we moved to Mabank. I mean, I felt really, really bad. out of my element when I moved to a different school and didn't know anybody, but I remember just really feeling lonely. Uh, and, and weird. I just felt weird. You know, I wasn't the same person I was when after sixth grade, you know, I just, we were weird. I mean, it just made us odd. I didn't want to talk to people. It's not like I felt like people wasn't talking to me. I, I just didn't, I didn't want to be there. I didn't want to be a part of it.

I didn't want to leave my parents' side, honestly. I was so afraid that one of them were going to die. Of course, y'all have already heard the other part. I was more worried about my dad. But when you lose somebody, when you're a kid, you always think. Who's next? So I had that paranoia all the time, so I didn't want to leave their side. 

Do you remember any of, uh, even though you're, you're saying like you didn't want to talk about it, do you remember like any of your teachers or like the school counselor or anyone? 

I do. Um, we had a counselor. Mom evidently talked to her and told her our situation and  every time she'd see me somewhere, she'd be like, do you want to come talk? And I'd be like, no. You know, but they tried to. I mean, they can't make…

Was that Sandra Lawrence? Do you remember? 

Miss Bice. It was actually Mabank. 

Oh, in Mabank. 

I don't remember ever No one in  the Princeton school No, I never had anybody ask me if I needed anything. No teachers. Nobody. Nobody tried to help.

The jacked up little 12 year old girl. 

You just came back to school after your sister was murdered and nobody 

No, nobody. They, not one reach out from anyone.  

As a kid, were you thinking like, wow, no one asked me about that? Or, or now do you look back at it as an adult and be like, what? 

I, I look back on it now and I, I think, wow, that's a pretty jacked up situation because obviously they're all adults and somebody could probably, I mean, there's got to be people who looked at me and thought, wow, there's really got to be something wrong with that kid. She needs help. But no, nobody reached out. Looking back on it now. They could have definitely done better. 

I graduated college in like three and a half years and then I went back and was a teacher. So I taught people that were seniors that were like in eighth grade when I was a senior. Wow. So we were that close in age. I don't know, no offense to any of my colleagues, but I don't know if anyone had the mental…

The skill set. 

And I, as a teacher,  I mean, gosh, I want to sit here and play, what do you call it? Monday morning quarterback. I don't want to sit here and think I would have asked, but I don't know. Right. I don't know.

Right. What about you? I mean, you had not, you weren't in Princeton school anymore. No. But you had stayed in touch with friends from here? 

Um, I had stayed in touch with, um,  very few people. Um, whenever I left, it was, it was abrupt. And I think I kind of burnt some bridges whenever I did that. Um, and, um, it was, um, It was kind of hard. So really my contact was Angie. I mean, that's who I kept in contact with, you know, a few people here and there, you know, but it wasn't like, you know, we were, you know, on the phone all the time and it was still, keep in mind, it was still long distance calls at that point. So it was expensive to keep in touch, you know, and so it, I didn't, I didn't keep in touch with a whole lot.

But I will say that, whenever I moved  to Plano, there was a small group that knew about Angie and had met her because she had been to visit. And whenever she would come on weekends, my parents had a pool, we would, I'd have friends over and Angie would be there, you know, we'd, you know, we'd all be hanging out. So there were only like three of my friends that really knew her.

And when she went missing, I was very closed with, who I said anything to. Number one, we were going to find her. She was going to be fine. She was going to have run away and staying with a friend and then going to be in trouble. So  it was all going to be okay anyway. So I didn't put it out there that she had run away. I didn't tell anybody. Whenever she got murdered, whenever we had found out that it was The worst of the worst. Instead of telling those friends what I was going through, I cut those friends out. I didn't tell anybody. I just didn't tell anybody. 

And part of it is, I didn't want to be the weird girl, you know, that had somebody murdered. But also because I didn't know how I was dealing with it yet. And so I can look at that now and think that, you know, that's why I did it. At the time though, my mom saw this as I was closing myself off and she was concerned about me. I remember having to sleep in my parents' King size bed with them whenever this happened. It was my dad, then my mom, and then me. And I had to  sleep in there for, it was weeks. 

Because you were scared or because they were scared? 

They were scared and she didn't, they didn't know how I was going to take everything. I think my parents thought I was a little bit suicidal. Um. 

Do you feel like you were? 

I, I don't, no, I, I don't, I don't think I was. I think I was just so, and I keep using the word broken, but it's the only one I can think of that. Um. I just remember shutting down, and I think the first person that I ever really opened up to about it is my husband. 

Did you actually go to the court trial? 

I remember being there. I remember the awkwardness of going into the bathroom, and John's sister hugs me, and she's like, I'm so sorry. And I was 12. To me, that was my enemy. I didn't want anything to do with him. I didn't want to be around him, even though it wasn't their fault, you know? But I, I remember how awkward I felt. I just, I've been angry, you know, because I was an angry child for a long time. But, um, I remember, um, at one point they stopped talking and said, we're fixing to show some graphic stuff. We probably want to have any family members. Y'all probably want to get out of here.

And I remember Peggy Carroll, um, she was with the DA's office. She's like, get, get her out of here. And I remember somebody taking me, my parents stayed for it, but I remember somebody taking me out. So they, they tried to protect me a little bit. So I do remember that. 

I remember being in court and We had different trials because they were all, you know, done differently, but when he was in court, I do remember seeing him get on the stand and when he talked, his teeth had been knocked out. And I was like, yes, somebody knocks his teeth out. I just remember that. I was so happy somebody knocked his teeth out in jail. Sorry, I just had a memory.  Hadn't had in a while. 

Did you go to the trial?  

I went to some. My parents wouldn't let me go to a lot of it. And I just remember, we were actually two rows behind Lee where he was sitting on the opposite side and he's up here in a and you know At this little desk and  at one point he turned around and he looked at somebody that was sitting close to me and I don't remember who he was looking at It wasn't me and we made eye contact for a second and my mom said I was just started shaking like I couldn't stop uncontrollable shaking  and All I wanted to do was just go, you know, go across the desk and strangle him. I just, I couldn't,  I just couldn't, I couldn't imagine being in the same room with him, especially after the way he lied to me on the phone and, and knowing that that's what he was doing. That was hard.  

What do you remember about when he was convicted? 

I thought that when it was over, I would feel better and I remember how it didn't make a difference, you know, like nothing, nothing made us feel better. I mean, I do remember that feeling. I felt like, I felt like it was just months and months of being there because I'm a kid and you're young and the days weren't, were so long. I don't even know how many days we were there. I just, I remember the feeling of when it was over, nothing felt over. I mean, it just. 

It didn't change anything. Mom lost her mom and her daughter within months of each other. I don't know how she did it. I really don't. I mean, mom was stout. She really was. But she kept it together for everybody. But I don't think I could be as strong as my mother. I mean, I really don't. I mean, I don't know how she did it because my dad folded. And to this day, my dad is, he's never, He's never been the same, but he, you know, was diagnosed, he's bipolar schizophrenic. And it's, I think, everything to do with everything that happened.  

Like it was a break. 

It was a break. 

He broke. 

When he, yeah. 

Like a little, like we know he was broken, but it was a true mental break. 

Yeah. He rebroke in 2013, and we ended up having to institutionalize my dad. He went to the Terrell State Hospital for six weeks, and never been right since then. Yeah. But he's still here, but he's. He's not really living. He's just kind of alive. 

You had shared with me that you are in touch, you have been in touch with the parole board, and you, as a victim, you have a right to know the location of the convicted killers.

I got to talk to the parole board and they were cordial. But they wanted to let me know that they felt like he had shown signs of rehabilitation. So we're gonna, we're gonna go ahead and let him out. And I pleaded and I begged and I talked about,  you know, this didn't just go away when, you know, everything was done. I mean, my, my whole family was uprooted. Like, we are not the people that we would have been had this not happened. I mean, we have issues, you know. So I went through the whole spell with them and they actually still told me their decision was already made. They were just letting me voice my opinion.  

He had to get permission to move out of state because he was on parole. I remember calling them, saying, Don't let him leave state. I, I, I don't want him to leave state. Actually, they contacted me because I was, you know, on the victim's list or whatever. And they said, what do you feel about that? And I said, I don't, I don't want him to. I want everything to be really hard on him, so please don't do it.

Well, his mother lives there. This is why he wants to go there. And they told me everything that was going on with it. And of course, he, he's pretty much gotten his way with everything that he's wanted. I mean, the system has totally worked for him. Um, but then after, after a while, my husband was like, you, you, you think you might want to just stop, cut your ties, get off of it, take yourself off the list, so you don't have the ability to stalk them, and, you know, see where they're at.

And I listened to him, so I quit. That's why I didn't know anything that was going on in October until Johnny Morrison sent me the note that said, hey, I've got some information for you if you don't know it. 

And that's October of 2022. 

I was excited when I posted it because I'm like, he finally got what he deserves. He's going right back to the penitentiary because it was a, you know, a parole violation. And then as I get a little bit more into it, this week I called the sheriff's office and I said, um, I was asking information on  every, when he was arrested. Actually, when I realized it was in October of '22, I called them to just get some information. 

The lady on the other line said he was in here for about two weeks. He was bonded out, he bailed out, and he is on an ankle monitor. I'm very confused as to how in the world he bonded out when he was on parole and he violated his parole.  

When Jackie shared with me that Lee had been released on bail in Yalobusha County, Mississippi, I couldn't believe it. It's not that I didn't believe her. I just couldn't understand how someone on parole in Texas for murder that was arrested in Mississippi for cocaine and fentanyl distribution will qualify for a bail. The reason we didn't include this in Episode 5 is because we have not been able to verify exact details. 

As previously shared, we know that Lee was arrested on the Mississippi drug charges October 18, 2022, and that he has been in federal custody since April 25, 2023. On Friday, August 16th, 2024, I spoke with Julie Addison, the Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi Criminal Division, that is a prosecutor on Lee's current case. 

Ms. Addison confirmed when he was taken into custody last year, It was not a transfer from another prison or jail.  I asked her if he'd been free for the six months between the Mississippi arrest and the federal charges, and she said there was no information available in the federal file. I tried to speak to the Yalobusha County District Attorney's Office last year, and they would not answer any of my questions. I will continue to seek the full story, and we will update our audience as we learn any new information. 

Do you feel he's more guilty than the other two?  

I do, because he pulled the trigger. I mean, they're all guilty. They, I mean, but, yeah. I mean, he's the one that she loved. He's the one that she trusted. The other two were just, you know, somebody to party with. So, I, yeah, I think he is the most responsible. I mean, he's the one who concocted the idea. You know, he's the one that brought them in on it. So yes, and this is the part where I don't cry and I get really pissed because I, I want him dead. I mean, just to speak rather frankly, I want, I want him dead. I don't think he should be here, but, you know.  

And I'm torn. I have days to where I think, you know… 

I'm not torn at all.  I'm not torn at all. There's no forgiveness here. 

No, but Um, even if she would have died and we could have, you know, had an open casket even, just to say bye. 

Yeah. 

You know, I don't know that that would have helped me at all. 

It would have helped me. 

I've never seen her. So to me, in my mind,  at my age still, she's still missing.

That's exactly how I feel. 

Yeah, she's still missing. 

Yeah. We didn't get to see her. They had to roll her up in a Ziploc bag so we couldn't smell her. 

Right. And so therefore, you know, I look at the, I think, is he, you know, is he more guilty than the others?  No, they all knew it. They conspired together and they did it together.

I don't know. I hate him more. 

I hate them all. 

I do. I hate him more. Because I knew him. I didn't know the other ones. Yeah. I mean, I remember him sitting at the kitchen table and me and Angie and the other side of the island wrestling and fighting and him laughing. You know, I mean, we were kids, you know, he was there in my house.

So yes, I do blame him more because I knew him.  

Angela's older sister, Kimberly, didn't participate in the original March 10th, 2023 interview.  I was thrilled when she reached out to me on Facebook in July to let me know she had been listening to the podcast. I was so thankful to hear from her and immediately offered her a chance to speak with us about Angela. 

In a phone interview on August 7th, 2024, Kimberly shared with me information that was new to everyone, including her younger sister Jackie and Angela's cousin Amy. 

Can you tell me how old you were when your family moved from McKinney to Princeton? 

Um, I was 14, Angie was 10, and Jackie was 6. 

Now, I talked to Jackie, it's probably been like, a year and a half ago, and she kind of talked to me about how much she liked living out there in the country and being around all the family and stuff. How was that for you growing up out there? 

I loved it.  

What were some of your favorite things about it?  

Well, we, um, rode our dirt bikes, me and Angie especially. Um, we played basketball.  My grandparents were there. We got to see them all the time. That was my mother's parents.  Um,  we got to go swimming in the duck pond behind the house. 

That sounds great. So what year did you graduate from, uh, Princeton? Did you graduate from Princeton High School? 

No, I, no, I started having children and I dropped out in the 12th grade. I got married. 

Your husband and you lived in, uh, a house right out there by the family, right? 

Yes, and Angie stayed with me quite often at my house.

Or what do you remember about, uh, You know, Angie meeting Lee, you meeting Lee. Do you remember Lee from the Chandler's? Do you remember him like kind of as a kid? 

I remember Lee as a kid growing up into a teenager. Um, I didn't know him very well, but Angie told me everything. He, um, when she was missing him, I went to his house. I didn't think he had done anything to her. I just thought maybe he took her to his mother's in Quinlan, because Angie was pregnant. We had taken her pregnancy test, she and I,  and she was pregnant. So I went and asked him, had he seen her, and he gave me the story of  the last time he saw her, she was with the Monte Carlo, the guy at Allsup's, the silver gray Monte Carlo. 

I just never thought he'd done anything to my sister, ever. Right before she came up missing, she actually scared, and she had told me, a couple of different occasions, like over by the, uh, Pace Picante sauce place there in Culleoka. He had tried to run over her, um, like two weeks before he actually done everything. 

I wanted to tell my mom and dad, but I didn't, because she asked me not to, because she wanted to be with him. 

Wow.  My goodness. So right around there, she had been in the truck with Lee. She got out of the truck, and then he tried to run her over. 

Yes, she was walking away. They were arguing. 

Do you know what they were arguing about?

She did tell me this much. That they had been going to Dallas and meeting some girl with drugs. And I don't know if that's what they were arguing about. I'm not sure. 

And now going back to the pregnancy test, I, you know, that's the first I've heard of that at all. So that was what kind of took me off guard here. Talk to me about that. 

He was probably two months, maybe about eight weeks, we painted our nails that night together and talked about it and she disappeared two days later. She was happy that she was pregnant. 

When she found out the test, did, are you are the only person in the family that she told? 

Oh, yes. We couldn't tell Dad.  

And what about your mom? Did your mom know this, like, after the fact? Or is this something you just kind of held on to? 

I just held on to it. Angie and I had our little secret. 

Well, let's talk a little bit about when she didn't come home. 

I remember driving to Tickey Creek Park every day and it was so hot. I'm looking for her because kids would say they saw her out there. And I would drive out there every day and look for her. And that's whenever I went to speak to Lee.  

He was still staying with the Chandlers? I believe so, yes. 

And he just gave you the story about the Allsup's and the Monte Carlo?

Yes, and I didn't, he knew that I really didn't believe the story, because I said, she would never do that, she loved you too much. She wouldn't do that. And I said, well, when you see her, would you please tell her to call me? I need to speak to her. And he said, if I see her. But he said it real mean. 

And you just, I mean, just no suspicion at all on your part.

I just really thought that he had taken her to Quinlan to his mom because she was pregnant and we didn't want to tell dad. Not yet. 

So you thought maybe he was kind of hiding her out while they made a plan?

I did. Did he know she was pregnant or you didn't know for sure she'd told him? 

I'm pretty sure he knew. I'm not,  I'm sure she told him at the end. 

And what do you remember between the time of her being reported missing up until when the body was found? What were you kind of doing during that time? 

Well, I was working two jobs and in between like I said going to Tickey, Tickey Creek Park looking for her every day.

Um, And then my aunt came to my house  and she told me they had found Angie and she had been shot. I said, well, let's get her to the hospital. I just thought that she had been shot and was in the hospital. And then my aunt said she'd been out for nearly two weeks. And that's all I remember till we got my mom and dad. There was news media and, and officers and detectives everywhere. 

What do you remember after finding out from your aunt? You know, you said everything was kind of a blur after the news media, so we kind of have a, a long gap between the body being found and then the trial. But there is kind of still that period around the 18th to the 21st, when we still don't know for sure who did it. What was going through your mind?  

When I found out that she was dead, I told Larry Dennison, because he questioned me, and I told him Lee, for sure Lee. Because of the incidents that happened before that, that I didn't tell my parents, him trying to run over her.  

Did you know John and Rodney at all?  

I did. Um, Rodney went to school with me. I didn't know him very well, but I knew of him. Um, John, he claimed to be my sister's best friend.  

But you'd been around Lee for how many years at this point, would you say? 

Five to six years. He came in, ate dinner at our dinner table. He used to come play basketball. Um, he seemed normal. But I know he didn't love her. Not the way she loved him. 

Yeah, what was your thoughts on he had another girlfriend? 

We knew, I knew Angie knew that he had another girlfriend, but I even went as far as going to her house and accused her of being involved, and I feel horrible for that. 

Have you ever spoken to her since then, or is there something you'd want to say to her now?

No, I'm just, I'm very sorry. 

When you found out for sure that, that they had arrested Lee and that John and Rodney had confessed and given some information about where they threw out her items and where the gun was, what were your thoughts? 

I was very hurt. I was very surprised at Rodney being involved in that. And John claiming to be our best friend. Um, I, even when I went out there, or they killed her, just like probably the following day of them finding her. And, um, I wish I hadn't of, but I did. Then after the trials, I went back out there and kind of, I don't know. I just felt like I just wanted to go out there and I did. And I just followed the path where, you know, they said they put her and, um, I wish I hadn't of. 

I mean, how was it affecting like your marriage and trying to be a parent?

I divorced  within five months of Angie. It was Christmas.  

Oh my goodness. 

Um, he left me, I'm, I'm not sure if it was me or him, or it did nearly destroyed me.

So was your family able to help you with your kiddos when you were trying to just keep it all together? 

Yes. My aunt helped me a lot. Um, with both my children, Angie was by my bedside timing, my labor pains. Um. She begged me to name the first one after her. I said, I want to name, you know, my first one. And the second one she said, please Kim, please. In May of '88. And Angie's name was Angela Lou. And I named my daughter Lori Lou. And she was so happy. Then I named her after  her. And then, uh, we lost her, like, my daughter was seven weeks old, maybe. 

Aww. Did you attend any of the trial?  

I did, yes. All of them. Lee had no remorse whatsoever. Um, very cold and cruel. 

Was there ever any talk between you and Angie about how he thought she was a narc?  

Yeah, um, I'm not sure if it had something to do with mom and dad's business account checkbook that they had gotten, um, she did say that they had been going to Dallas, like I said earlier, um, and meeting with some girl and getting drugs for Lee. She, and she mentioned at the Pace Picante Sauce place, that incident that he called her a narc, that she made him let her out at the police department in Princeton one night they were arguing. And I believe that's when he may have started calling her a narc. 

Have you spoken to any of the three of them since they were arrested and confessed back in 1988? 

No. 

Would you like to talk to any of them at all?  

I would like to speak with John. I'd really like to speak with Lee. But there's, that's not going to happen and he's not ever going to tell the truth. But John may tell the truth. I would like to speak with John. 

How do you feel about the community support after Angie passed that was offered to your family? 

No one. No one. Bill Chandler and Peggy Chandler, yes, but no one else. 

Why do you think that people didn't reach out? 

Maybe they just didn't know how to reach out to us or if they felt, you know, we were broken and  they couldn't help. They just didn't know how to say the words, I guess. I don't know. 

What would you want to say to Angie if you could go back to that last day you spent with her?  

Just that I loved her so much. Now, the last two weeks that she was here, she acted scared. I believe she felt something was going to happen to her, or maybe he threatened her, but she still, yet, went and got in the truck with him. She just, she loved him so much, and um,sShe used to, one more thing, she used to sing this song, um, The Flame by, um, Cheap Trick and listing his name in it. She adored him. She, she loved him. I just can't imagine how she felt  when, when he shot her, just looking at him.  

What do you hope that people get out of listening to this podcast and your family's story? 

That my sister meant the world to us. She was a good person and she mattered. Those guys don't know what they took from us. 

True Texas Crime will return in two weeks with a brand new conversation with me, our executive producer Kari, Jackie, and Amy. We'll share their final thoughts on hearing more details of Angela and her story after all these years. 

True Texas Crime, The Significant Life of Angela Stevens, is a North End Burgers production.  

Recorded, hosted, and written by me, Julie Dove.  

Kari Southard Hargrave is the Executive Producer. 

Assistant Story Editor, Brandon Burkhart.

Studio recording by Mike DeLay.

Real Voice LA. Sound design and mixing by Real Voice LA. 

Additional recording by JBM Studios.

Opening music, “The Colonel,” courtesy of Zachariah Hickman. 

Closing music, “Night in the Prairie,” courtesy of Derek and Brandon Feichter. 

Special thanks to Jackie Stevens Tower. Amy Harper Fritz, Deanna McDonald, and Jennifer Rich. 

The views expressed by this podcast host and participants are solely that of the person speaking and do not necessarily reflect the views of any employer, company, institution, or other associated parties.