- A Disguise at the Door in Spring, Texas
On a summer afternoon in July 2014, a man dressed like a delivery driver walked up to a family home on Leaflet Lane in Spring, Texas.
Within hours, six members of the Stay family would be dead, and the only survivor would be a 15‑year‑old girl who saved lives by pretending to be dead and dialing 911.
The case would become one of the most shocking family massacres in Texas history.
Case Snapshot
Location: 711 Leaflet Lane, Spring, Harris County, Texas
Date: July 9, 2014
Victims:
Stephen Stay, 39
Katie Stay, 33
Bryan Stay, 13
Emily Stay, 9
Rebecca Stay, 7
Zach Stay, 4 - Survivor: Cassidy Stay, 15 at the time
- Offender: Ronald Lee Haskell, 33, Katie’s former brother‑in‑law
- Status: Convicted of capital murder; sentenced to death.
Family Ties and a Violent Grudge
Ronald Lee Haskell had once been married to Katie Stay’s sister, Melannie.
Their marriage was troubled and included allegations of domestic abuse. By 2014, the couple had divorced, and Melannie had moved to Texas, where she stayed with or near the Stays while trying to rebuild her life.
Prosecutors later argued that Haskell was enraged by the divorce and by what he believed was the Stay family’s role in helping his ex‑wife leave him.
Instead of moving on, he focused his anger on them and made a plan to find Melannie — and to punish those he believed had helped her.
July 9, 2014: The Delivery Disguise
On July 9, Haskell traveled from out of state to the Houston area and went to the Stay family’s two‑story brick home in Spring.
He arrived wearing a FedEx‑style shirt and carrying a small package, posing as a delivery driver.
Fifteen‑year‑old Cassidy Stay answered the door.
She did not initially recognize him as her “Uncle Ronnie,” and when he asked for her parents, she told him they weren’t home.
Haskell left — but only for a short time.
Minutes later, he returned, forced his way into the house, and began tying Cassidy up inside the home.
As Cassidy’s younger siblings arrived or came into the room, he tied them up as well.
He then waited for Stephen and Katie to return from running errands.
Hostage in the Living Room
When Stephen and Katie came home, they walked into a hostage situation.
Haskell tied them up alongside their children and gathered all seven family members in the living room.
According to court testimony, he told Katie, “I’ve come to get my kids,” speaking as if he were addressing his ex‑wife.
He demanded to know where Melannie was.
The family told him they didn’t know.
What happened next was chillingly methodical.
Haskell forced the family to lie face‑down on the floor.
With the children next to their parents, he began firing shots, moving down the line and shooting each person in the head execution‑style.
Stephen and Katie died from their wounds, as did Bryan, Emily, Rebecca, and Zach.
Cassidy was also shot; the bullet fractured her skull but did not kill her.
Cassidy Stay: Playing Dead and Calling 911
Cassidy later testified that after she was shot, she heard a voice in her head telling her to be quiet and stay still.
She went limp and pretended to be dead.
Haskell left the house, believing he had killed everyone inside.
Authorities say he then drove away, planning to go to Cassidy’s grandparents’ house — the parents of his ex‑wife — to continue his attack.
As soon as she believed it was safe, Cassidy got up, called 911, and told dispatchers exactly what had happened.
She identified Haskell by name and warned that he was headed to her grandparents’ home to kill them too.
Her call allowed law enforcement to issue an alert and position units to intercept Haskell before he could reach his next target.
Standoff and Arrest
After the 911 call, officers located Haskell’s vehicle and followed him.
A standoff ensued when he refused to get out of the car, at one point holding a gun to his head.
For several hours, negotiators worked to end the standoff safely.
Eventually, Haskell surrendered and was taken into custody.
At that point, the scale of what had happened at the Stay home was still sinking in: six members of one family dead, with one teenager as both a victim and the key eyewitness.
The Trial: Insanity Defense and Death Sentence
Haskell was charged with multiple counts of capital murder for killing more than one person during the same criminal transaction and for murdering children under the age of six.
His defense team argued that he suffered from serious mental illness and had not been in his right mind at the time of the shootings.
They pursued an insanity defense.
Prosecutors countered that Haskell’s actions — traveling to Texas, disguising himself as a delivery driver, tying up the family, and methodically shooting them when they wouldn’t reveal his ex‑wife’s location — showed planning and intent.
In September 2019, after a trial that included emotional testimony from Cassidy Stay, a jury found Ronald Lee Haskell guilty of capital murder.
In October 2019, the same jury sentenced him to death.
A Survivor’s Courage
Cassidy’s survival and testimony became a central part of the story.
Her grandparents publicly called her their hero, crediting her 911 call with saving their lives.
In a victim‑impact statement, Cassidy talked about wanting to understand whether Haskell felt any remorse, and how she ultimately had to accept that she might never get the answer she hoped for.
Her resilience — living through the attack, playing dead, making the call, and later facing Haskell in court — turned a story of pure brutality into one that also contains a thread of extraordinary courage.
Why This Case Is on True Crime Maps
The Farmville / Stay family massacre is tied to a single suburban house in Spring, Texas:
- A brick home on Leaflet Lane where a man in a delivery uniform forced his way in and destroyed nearly an entire family.
- A location that looks like any other safe neighborhood address — until you know what happened behind the door.
On True Crime Maps, the pin for this case marks that home and highlights the path Haskell took:
- From out of state to the Houston suburbs
- From the front porch in disguise to the living room where he gathered the family
- And then toward another home he planned to attack, stopped only because one teenager called for help in time.
It’s a story about betrayal from inside a family circle, the danger of a calculated intruder, and the power of one survivor’s testimony to stop a killer from taking even more lives.
When you click this pin, you’re looking at more than a crime scene.
You’re seeing where courage and horror collided on the same suburban street — and how the voice of a 15‑year‑old girl helped end a planned killing spree.
