This week city police are still seeking the public’s help in identifying the two stick up men, one of whom brandished a black handgun during the heist.

The local newspaper said it was the fifth robbery in less than three years at the All Star convenience store and gasoline station at 902 Chestnut St.

Both robbers were wearing dark clothing, and one of them had a red bandana over his face.

Anyone with knowledge of the incident is asked to call police investigators at 332-8600 or CrimeStoppers at 836-930-8477.

During a brief appearance before 423rd District Judge Chris Duggan, Hailey Bellard pleaded guilty in the August 2009 shooting death of her mother at their McDade home. Duggan accepted a plea agreement negotiated between prosecutors and defense lawyers in the case. Hailey Bellard was 14 at the time of the shooting.

Investigators believe Tracy Belllard 42, was killed after she attempted to interfere with a romantic relationship between her daughter and Joseph D. Douglas, who was 18 at the time. Douglas pleaded guilty to murder last year and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.

After a hearing last year Judge Duggan ruled that Hailey Bellard could be tried as an adult. She was subsequently ordered to stand trial for murder by a Bastrop County grand jury.

The most dramatic moment of the Feb. 25 proceeding came when Hailey Bellard’s grandmother, Yolanda Warren, addressed her directly after the judge pronounced sentence. “I still love you, you’re all I’ve got left,” said Warren, “but I can’t forgive you, not yet. There was no reason for it (the murder). If (the situation) was that bad you could have come to any of us (for help).”

“I wish you could bell me why and what happened,” the grandmother added.

The 5:05 p.m. emergency call reported a suicide and a “missing” 2-year-old, according to an announcement today from the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Department.

Investigators found the bodies of Jason Ackley and his stepson, Hunter James Stephens, at the house, the announcement said. Both had suffered gunshot wounds. The Travis County Medical Examiner’s office ruled the child’s death a homicide and Ackley’s death a suicide.

Ackley, who lived in the Houston area, was reported to be visiting relatives near Bastrop over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Investigation into the deaths is continuing, said the sheriff’s department.

Following an autopsy the Travis County Medical Examiner’s office ruled that Self was a homicide victim, according to an announcement today by the Bastrop County Sheriff’s Department.

The announcement did not suggest how Self died, where she lived or other details.

Deputy Molly Davis was on routine patrol duty when she stopped to investigate the “suspicious bedding” in the 900 block of Old McDade Road, the announcement said.

Board, 46, had been a Bastrop policeman since 1986. He will remain on leave without official duties until Nov. 1 when he will qualify for city retirement benefits, said an announcement today from Bastrop City Manager Mike Talbot. The city manager said Board’s resignation has been accepted and is irrevocable.

Board had been on leave since Aug. 18. The previous evening he was arrested in Austin on a drunk driving charge.
Talbot said Board was “allowed to resign” as part of a negotiated arrangement for his separation from city employment.

Talbot said a search for a new chief for the 25-member department will begin immediately. In the meantime, Assistant Chief Matt Wagner will direct the department.

Chavez was released from the Bastrop County Jail on $225,000 bail last June 12. The alleged incident, involving a teen and sting operations aimed at alcohol sales by local retailers, took place May 30, 2009, according to investigators. The grand jury indictments, which are not evidence of guilt, name Chavez on charges of sexually assaulting the girl as well as official oppression,that is, acting “under color of his employment as a public servant, namely as a law enforcement agent for the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission.”

Following the arrest of Chavez, TABC officials announced a state wide review and overhaul of rules for sting operations involving field agents and and underage informants working with them.

No trial date has been set.

Last week 423rd District Judge Chris Duggan in Bastrop ruled that Haley Bellard can be tried as an adult for her alleged role in her mother’s death. On May 25 the state grand jury for Bastrop County returned an indictment against the teen, in effect sending the case to trial . An indictment indicates that grand jurors decided there is enough evidence to warrant a trial. The action also serves as formal notice of a felony charge against a defendant. An indictment is not evidence of guilt in any case.

Since Duggan’s ruling earlier this month, Haley Bellard has been held in the Bastrop County Jail under $100,000 bail. Previously she had been held in a juvenile facility in Seguin.

Also charged in the death of Tracy Bellard is 18-year-old Joseph Douglas. He is in the Bastrop County Jail under $750,000 bail. Criminal investigators believe Tracy Bellard was shot to death in her McDade home last Aug. 14 after she tried to break up a romantic relationshiip between her daughter and Douglas.

Prosecutors said it could be another year before the case comes to trial.

Hailey Bellard had been held in a juvenile detention facility since she and her 18-year-old boyfriend, Joseph Douglas, were questioned in August 2009 about the disappearance of Tracy Bellard, who worked at the family restaurant, Mimi G’s, on FM 1441 north of Bastrop. Douglas, also charged with murder, remains in jail under $500,000 bail.

District Attorney Bryan Goertz said he will seek a grand jury indictment against Hailey Bellard next week. Grand jury action is required to send any felony case to trial.

Criminal investigators believe Tracy Bellard was shot to death at her McDade home after she repeatedly tried to interfere with a romantic relationship between her daughter, 14 at the time, and Douglas.

Today the same jury sentenced Tarver to 32 years in prison, based in part on his prior arrest and conviction history dating back to 1998.

Edwin Williams, 29, pleaded guilty last week to his part in the heist in return for a 30-year prison term as part of an agreement with prosecutors. Another co-defendant in the case, Nathaniel Pellerin, 20, testified against Tarver last week, apparently under a separate plea agreement with prosecuting attirneys. Pellerin has not formally been tried or sentenced for his role in the case.

Dustin Dickman and Dennis Leetch were arrested late in Januray in connection with the death of Michael VanDyke, 23, who had been working as a cook at the Old Frontier restaurant in Paige before his disappearance about the middle of December. Sheriff’s department investigators believe the two assaulted VanDyke outside the Paige area residence he shared with Dickman and Dickman’s girlfriend, who has not been charged in the case.

Investigators also believe that VanDyke was initially buried in a shallow grave near the residence but later moved to a rural site near San Marcos where the body was burned, possibly beyond identification, over a period of perhaps 36 hours.

Dickman and Leetch are both being held in the Bastrop County Jail under $500,000 bail each. An indictment by grand jurors sends the case to trial but is not evidence of guilt.