‘We were devastated’: Family members identify three children stabbed to death in Italy and Texas

The paternal grandmother of 6-year-old Legend Chapelle says he was one of the children killed in Italy, Texas. She told the WFAA that she was trying to get custody of her.

ITALY, Texas. As the small Italian town of Texas continues to mourn the death of three children in a local home, family members speak candidly about the tragic incident.

Three children – a 6-year-old twin and a 5-year-old twin – were stabbed to death on Friday, and their mother, 25-year-old Shamaya Hall, is charged with their murders. A 4-year-old boy and a 13-month-old boy were also injured and were airlifted to nearby hospitals.

Child Protective Services sources told WFAA that Hall allegedly stabbed her children when a CPS officer who suspected the mother of unsupervised visits to her children arrived on the scene to check on her without warning. The agency confirmed that the five children were siblings.

Hall was incarcerated at the Wayne McCollum Detention Center on three counts of capital murder.

While the three children who were killed have not yet been officially identified, their family members have given their names to the WFAA.

Paternal grandmother Latanya Reese identified the 6-year-old victim as Legend Chapell.

“When I got the call about my nephew Legend, we were devastated. We’re still alive,” Reese said. “I tried not to get angry.”

The Martin family, paternal relatives of the 5-year-old twins, identified the twins as Alia and Aiden Martin. Alia and Aiden were Legend’s half-siblings.

Hall is likely to face additional charges, but it is currently unclear what they may be.

Previously, CPS placed the children in the care of another relative.

Reese told the WFAA that he tried several times to get custody of Legend, but was unsuccessful.

“I wish I could save Legend,” Reese said. “I think about what I could have done differently? I don’t know. I would do anything.”

CPS said it could not provide further information about the two surviving children or their current condition.

“I want justice for the Legend. I won’t stop until they pay for what they did. This is unfair. I’m tired of crying about it. I’m ready to fight for it,” Reese said. “They were not only taken by our family, they were taken by the community, the school, their friends.”

Reese told WFAA that Legend loves Spider-Man and the Los Angeles Lakers. He wanted to be a professional boxer when he grew up and told his grandmother that he enjoyed going to school because he felt that was where he could be himself.

According to Reese, Legend and his twin half-brothers will be buried together.

An online fundraising campaign was organized to cover the cost of Legend’s funeral.

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