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NEW SUMMERFIELD, Texas (KETK) – The 911 call from the quadruple murder in New Summerfield on Tuesday shows the terror by Jacqueline Gerla, the elderly mother of Jeff Gerla, one of the victims.
“On my driveway, the boy that’s been living with my son. I think he’s dead.”
Jacqueline Gerla
Jacqueline Gerla was living in a brick house in front of the mobile home where her son and two other people were murdered. John Clinton, Jeff’s boyfriend was found shot to death in the driveway.
The call lasted two minutes and 56 seconds, but made no mention of gunshots being fired behind her house or even hearing shots at all. It appeared that she did not know a shooting had happened. The call was placed around 7:55 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Clinton, 18, was found by deputies in the driveway and then later discovered the bodies of 47-year-old Jeff Gerla, 39-year-old Ami Hickey and 39-year-old Amanda Bain.
Clinton and Gerla were in a same-sex relationship as were Hicky and Bane. Sheriff Dickson said that the primary motive appears to be a robbery and not a hate crime.
Three men have been arrested and charged with capital murder for the shooting. They are:
- 20-year-old Jesse Pawlowski
- 21-year-old Dylan Welch
- 37-year-old Billy Phillips
Pawlowski and Phillips do have a criminal history, according to Dickson. He could not say what they had previously been arrested for. One has allegedly confessed to being involved. Dickson said that a 9-millimeter gun was used in the shooting.
The three men allegedly came in one car, but stole the 2017 Dodge Challenger that was in the driveway after the shooting. They then split up among the two cars.
He said that the department received tips from the public that led them to the three men, but would not go into detail about them.
