Former Burnet Police Officer Russell Butler pleaded no contest on Wednesday, Nov. 19 to a charge of criminally negligent homicide for the killing of 25-year-old Burnet man Brandon Michael Jacque in 2019.

Butler was sentenced to five years of deferred adjudication and ordered to pay $1,000 in fines for the conviction. This brings an end to more than six years of legal struggles surrounding the 2019 incident that led to Butler shooting, and killing, Jacque.

Butler reportedly shot Jacque after responding to a noise complaint at a Burnet residence on March 27, 2019. At the scene, Jacque was in the driver’s seat of a vehicle in the driveway of the residence and Butler ordered him to halt as he began backing down the driveway. The car then ran over Butler’s foot and he opened fire on Jacque, killing him. Reports from the incident indicate that Butler contacted EMS and attempted to provide life-saving aid to Jacque following the shooting.

An X-ray of Butler’s foot after the incident revealed that he had suffered no significant injuries from being run over. Butler was fired from the Burnet Police Department on April 23, 2019 for violating the BPD use of force policy. The city of Burnet was also ordered to pay a total of $599,000 in settlements to Jacque’s mother and the mother of his daughter.

“Today Butler took a plea deal,” reads a post made on the Justice4B Facebook page, operated by Jacque’s sister Ashlie Demers, on Wednesday. “It is not at all what we were hoping for but it was a decision made as a family.”

The five years of deferred adjudication from Russell’s sentence means that he will be on probation for the next five years, but not see any jail time unless he violates the terms of his probation. 

“We would not have (offered a plea deal) without consultation with the family,” 33rd & 424th District Attorney Perry Thomas told DailyTrib. “The family is happy that there is closure in this matter and that there is some recognition of (Butler’s) wrongdoing.”

His conviction of criminally negligent homicide is a state jail felony, but a lesser charge than that of manslaughter, which he was charged with in 2022 after a jury found him not guilty of first-degree murder. 

Criminally negligent homicide indicates a killing through negligence; manslaughter indicates a killing through recklessness; and first-degree murder indicates a killing that is willful and premeditated.

Jacque’s sister, Ashlie Demers, shared a written statement on the Justice4B Facebook page that she said was read aloud in court.

“You (addressing Butler) took a life, someone who can never be replaced,” reads the closing lines of the statement. “And the impact of that will live with me for the rest of my life.”

Read the whole statement at this link. 

dakota@thepicayune.com

Three Highland Lakes teams are in the second round of the 2025 playoffs for their respective divisions. Burnet has a long trip to Iowa Park for their game, Faith Academy is headed to Bryan, and Llano makes the drive to Converse.

Here are the matchups for Round 2:

Burnet Bulldogs neutral game Randall Raiders

KICKOFF: 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21

WHERE: Hawk Stadium, 1000-1298 Johnson Road in Iowa Park

PREVIEW: Listen to an interview with Burnet head coach Ben Speer in the weekly segment on KBEY 103.9 FM: In the Bulldog Huddle.

LAST GAME: Burnet 21, Andrews 7

Burnet (4-7 overall, 1-3 district) takes on Randall (9-2 overall, 4-1 district) for the second round of the 2025 4A Division I playoffs on Friday. The Bulldogs are coming off of a win over their first round opponent, Andrews (5-6 overall, 3-0 district).

“It feels great (to win the first round), I’m just so joyful for those kids,” head coach Ben Speer said of the team’s win against Andrews. “Especially the seniors, they’ve been through so much adversity this season. It’d be so easy for them to pull away from the team and be selfish, but they never wavered.”

Burnet Consolidated Independent School District is shutting down all of its campuses on Friday to accommodate staff and student travel to the Bulldogs’ game in Iowa Park, about four hours away. The district hopes to get as much support from the community as possible at the game.

How green do you bleed? Grab your tickets to the game at this link. 

Faith Academy Flames neutral game Legacy Christian Academy Warriors

KICKOFF: 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22

WHERE: Allen Academy, 3201 Boonville Road in Bryan

LAST GAME: Faith Academy 83, Wylie Prep Academy 36

Faith Academy (10-1 overall, 3-0 district) takes on Legacy Christian Academy (7-3 overall, 1-1 district) for their second round of the 2025 Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools 6 Man II tournament. The Flames took down their first round opponent, the Wylie Prep Patriots (6-5 overall, 2-2 district), on Nov. 15.

Llano Yellowjackets neutral game London Pirates

KICKOFF: 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21

WHERE: D.W. Rutledge Stadium, 9150 FM 1516 N. in Converse

LAST GAME: Llano 49, Poteet 14

Llano (10-1 overall, 5-0 district) takes on London (7-4 overall, 5-2 district) for their second round of the 2025 3A Division I playoffs. The Yellowjackets stung the Poteet Aggies (2-9 overall, 1-4 district) in the first round.

dakota@thepicayune.com

Granite Shoals kicks off the holiday season on Saturday, Nov. 22, with its annual Christmas parade and tree lighting ceremony at Quarry Park, 2221 N. Phillips Ranch Road. The parade begins at 3 p.m., followed immediately by the lighting of the city’s Christmas tree and a visit from Santa Claus.

The celebration starts with the Santa Dash Golf Cart Parade, launching from City Hall. Residents are encouraged to decorate their golf carts and join the fun. Staging begins at 2:30 p.m., and the parade rolls out at 3 p.m.

After the parade, families can gather in Quarry Park to watch the Christmas tree come to life with sparkling lights. They can then stay after to visit with Santa Claus and take photos by the tree.

“These holiday events are about more than lights and decorations; they’re about celebrating the heart of our community. We’re excited to see families and neighbors gather to laugh, make memories, and enjoy the magic of the season here in Granite Shoals,” City Manager Sarah Novo told DailyTrib.

maci@thepicayune.com

A driver that allegedly caused multiple, major wrecks on Wednesday, Nov. 19, along U.S. 281 in Marble Falls could be facing several criminal charges for their actions. 

The crashes caused extreme travel delays in Marble Falls on Wednesday afternoon, led to serious property damage, and resulted in severe injuries for the reckless motorist and a three-year-old child that was in one of the vehicles that was struck in the spree. Both the motorist and the child were airlifted from the scene to receive emergency medical treatment.

According to the Marble Falls Police Department, the driver has not yet been formally charged as of Thursday morning, as they are still in the hospital. Their identity will not be released until they are formally charged.

Pending the results of a blood test, the driver is facing charges of driving while intoxicated, aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, striking fixtures on the highway, and collision involving damage to a vehicle. 

A media release issued by MFPD on Thursday morning laid out the events of Wednesday afternoon.

The reckless driver at the center of Wednesday’s major accidents reportedly crashed into a 2011 Jeep SUV driven by a 19-year-old Marble Falls resident, Celeste Prado, at the intersection of Max Starcke Dam Road and U.S. 281. 

The reckless driver then fled from that initial accident, heading west on Max Starcke Dam Road, and drove into a neighborhood where they struck a stop sign and a light pole along La Ventana Drive.

They then turned onto U.S. 281 from La Ventana Drive and lost control of their 2016 Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck which caused them to hit a Dodge Journey driven by 30-year-old Burnet resident Brittany Ashlock, who had her three-year-old daughter in the Dodge Journey with them.

A silver Lexus driven by 75-year-old Kerrville resident Dan Smalley then crashed into the Dodge Ram of the reckless driver. 

The reckless driver then attempted to back up after the Lexus collision and also struck a 2017 Ford F-250 driven by 62-year-old Sealy resident Veronica Leenen.

U.S. 281 was shut down for about three hours following the collisions to accommodate damage control, a criminal investigation, and the landing of two different helicopters to transport the reckless driver and Ashlock’s three-year-old daughter to hospitals. During the shutdown, travel across Marble Falls was extremely hindered, leading to one-hour-plus drive times to cross town.

The three-year-old child was flown to Dell Children’s Medical Center and is reportedly in stable condition as of Thursday. The reckless driver was flown to Dell Seton Medical Center and is also reportedly in stable condition.

editor@thepicayune.com

A motorist fleeing from the scene of a hit-and-run on the afternoon of Wednesday, Nov. 19, caused multiple, major accidents along U.S. 281 in south Marble Falls. The driver and a three-year old child were airlifted from the scene following the wrecks.

According to Marble Falls Police Captain Jimmy Cole, a motorist that had caused an accident near Max Starcke Dam Road and U.S. 281 fled from the scene, driving on the roads behind the First Baptist Church of Marble Falls before emerging back on U.S. 281 on La Ventana Drive and causing an accident with at least three other vehicles.

Traffic south of Marble Falls was shut down following the accident as law enforcement investigated the scene and to make way for multiple helicopters that airlifted the fleeing motorist and a three-year-old child to hospitals for treatment of their injuries sustained in the La Ventana Drive-U.S. 281 wreck.

The traffic shutdown caused major travel delays in Marble Falls for most of the afternoon, creating drive times of over an hour to cross town. Traffic was reopened as of approximately 4:10 p.m. on Wednesday.

The full list of those injured has not yet been released, but DailyTrib will provide more updates as they are provided.

Correction: The motorist was fleeing from the scene of a hit-and-run that they committed. A previous version of this story stated that they were fleeing from law enforcement, which is false.

dakota@thepicayune.com

Marble Falls Independent School District just terminated its contract with the architecture firm that helped develop several projects from its $172.2 million bond package due to concerns about poorly-estimated construction costs.

The MFISD School Board of Trustees voted unanimously during its regular meeting on Monday, Nov. 17 to part ways with Pfluger Architects. This decision follows a lengthy fact-finding investigation that commenced after it was found in October that Pfluger had severely underestimated the cost of building the new Marble Falls High School baseball field.

“By passing the (bond package), the community has put their faith and trust in us and to continue that trust, we had to make this move,” Superintendent Jeff Gasaway told DailyTrib.

MFISD is in negotiations with Huckabee Architects, the firm that handled many of the district’s 2018 bond projects, and they could be under contract by the time of the Board of Trustees’ next meeting on Dec. 15 according to Gasaway.

MFISD residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of the latest big bond package in May, approving funding for major campus upgrades to academics, athletics, infrastructure, transportation, and technology. 

(Read more about the upgrades and why the bond package was on the ballot in the DailyTrib stories “Inside MFISD’s Props A and B: Long lines, no space, no time” and “Inside MFISD’s props C and D: ‘Are we OK being OK?’”)

Pfluger Architects was part of the pre-bond planning process and helped develop some of the bigger projects in the bond package like the new high school baseball field, a multi-purpose indoor sports facility, and the high school’s new career technology education center. 

When the time came to go out for bid on construction of the school’s new baseball field in October, the district learned that the buildout would cost about $10 million, well above the $6.5 million that Pfluger estimated.

Concerns about other errors in cost estimates led to number-crunching on the district’s part and ultimately the decision to separate from Pfluger. 

“We had a third party estimator come in,” Gasaway said. “With the multipurpose, it was still, from what we could tell, it wasn’t priced accurately.”

The multi-purpose facility was one of the larger items from the bond package with an estimated price tag of $26.05 million, but that figure is now in question.

This change in architecture firms will likely cause delays to the original timelines of these major projects. The baseball field was meant to be finished by February 2026 and the multi-purpose facility was meant to be ready by summer 2027, but now their due dates are uncertain.

“We’ll be asking (the new architects) to really help us understand what the timeline is going to be and to communicate what expectations we should have (on these projects),” Gasaway said. 

The superintendent made it clear that the district was still committed to completing all of the bond projects despite the recent setback.

“Our intent is to deliver every bond project that we talked about to our community,” he said. “We feel like there are going to be some strategies that will be able to help us keep that plan. If we have concerns that we cannot deliver on that, we will share that with the community in the future.”

While some bond projects are delayed, others are not.

The Board of Trustees approved the purchase and installation of a new digital scoreboard at Mustang Stadium, which should be complete before the class of 2025-26 graduation. The board also approved the purchase of nine new buses and roof replacements on district property.

dakota@thepicayune.com

Joelton Mayfield, a lifelong musician, was raised in Granite Shoals, and now he is just days away from a performance of his first album in Austin. While his career has taken him to the big stage and under the wing of a storied alt-country label, his musical roots are undoubtedly right here in the Highland Lakes.

Mayfield plays live at Mohawk Austin on Friday, Nov. 21, sharing his freshman record “Crowd Pleaser” with a Central Texas audience for the first time. The album was released on Oct. 24.

The show begins at 8 p.m., with doors opening at 7 p.m. Pedal steel guitarist Alex Dupree and musician Zack Wiggs will open the night. Tickets are available in advance for $25.50.

“I know it’s an hour drive but we promise a good time,” Mayfield told DailyTrib, addressing his supporters in the Highland Lakes area.

“Crowd Pleaser,” a mix of alt-country and indie rock, was released by Bloodshot Records, a Chicago-based label that helped shape the alternative-country movement of the 90s and 2000s. The album is available on all streaming platforms including Spotify and Apple Music, and those interested in physical copies can look in Austin record stores or order them online through his website.

“I hope people feel a connection to it,” Mayfield said. “It’s my first record.”

Mayfield recorded the album during the COVID-19 pandemic in a barn on a friend’s farm in Fairhope, Alabama. He said isolating together was “the only safe way to make a live record,” at the time and, despite the shutdown, it became an ideal creative environment that allowed him the budget and space to create “Crowd Pleaser.”

“It took a really long time to find a home and get over the hurdles,” Mayfield said, reflecting on the search for the right team and representation.

Born in Austin and raised in Granite Shoals, Mayfield says his work draws heavily from his childhood influences– church, baseball, and the support of his parents and grandparents.

“You have to write what you know, and if you’re not writing what you know then you’re probably not writing anything that’ll make anybody feel anything,” Mayfield said.

Mayfield began singing when he was three years old in his church’s children’s program and was surrounded by music at home. His dad’s side of the family was musically inclined and his mom’s side of the family were big country music fans.

“(Music) was always encouraged around the house,” he recalled. “There were all these instruments around, but church was kind of the main vehicle for being able to sing and play so that’s kind of where I got my start.”

As he grew older, he picked up the “music bug,” taking guitar and piano lessons. Guitar skill came especially by way of lessons at Harmony School of Creative Arts in Marble Falls. 

Mayfield’s family had little to no access to the internet when he was younger, but when it finally came, he was introduced to a world of music beyond the radio. 

Digging through old records of his parents, he found artists like Bob Dylan, who helped him understand how expansive music could be. Visits with his grandmother introduced him to George Jones and Patsy Cline, showing him more music outside of church and helping him realize it “could be whatever he wanted it to be.”

From early church solos to a debut record release show in Austin, Mayfield’s journey now comes full circle as he shares “Crowd Pleaser” with the public.

Follow Mayfield online at joeltonmayfield.com, on Facebook at Facebook.com/joeltonmayfield, or on Instagram at @joeltonmayfield.

maci@thepicayune.com

A Llano County jury on Friday, Nov. 14, found Francisco Reyes, 19, of Kingsland not guilty on a manslaughter charge for his involvement in a fight that led to the death of another young man at a Highland Lakes area house party.

Reyes was one of three suspects charged with manslaughter for the death of a 20-year-old Lakeway man, David Michael Justus, who died from a head injury sustained during a large fight that broke out at a residence on Mesquite Drive in Kingsland in July 2024.

Reyes was the first of the three suspects to see court following the incident. The other two suspects, Ryan Moore, 21, of Marble Falls and Damon Murphy of Marble Falls do not yet have court dates set according to the 33rd & 424th District Attorney’s Office.

The trial began on Nov. 10, was suspended on Nov. 11 for the Veterans Day holiday, then resumed on Nov. 12 and ran until Nov. 14.

The manslaughter charge is a second-degree felony that can come with up to 20 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines. Manslaughter happens when an individual causes the death of another through reckless behavior.

Reyes’ defense attorney, Austin Shell of Shell & Shell Attorneys at Law, shared details from the courtroom with DailyTrib that gave more context to the case. 

“We think (Reyes) was found not guilty because he was acting in self defense and in defense of others,” Shell said. 

He explained that the brawl broke out when Justus’ girlfriend was reportedly hit with a beer can at the party and he retaliated by striking someone who had nothing to do with the incident. This led to Reyes stepping in to confront Justus and a fistfight ensued. During the fight between Reyes and Justus, several others jumped into the fray, with many attacking Justus. 

According to Shell, Reyes was on the ground being hit by Justus and managed to get up, throwing a punch that sent Justus to the ground. Justus’ head collided with a nearby patch of asphalt causing injuries that led to his death days later.

Shell added further details, saying that the fight mostly happened on grass, but the way Justus fell sent him toward a nearby patch of asphalt. 

“This was just nothing but a tragic accident all the way around,” he said. 

dakota@thepicayune.com

School will be out across Burnet Consolidated Independent School District campuses on Friday, Nov. 21, so that as many people as possible can make it to the high school football team’s playoff game near Wichita Falls.

The Bulldogs, on Nov. 14, won the first round of the 2025 University Interscholastic League Texas Football State Championship- Conference 4A DI against the Andrews High School Mustangs in a 21-7 contest. 

That win propelled them to the next round, scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday against the Randall Raiders at Hawk Stadium, 1000-1298 Johnson Road in Iowa Park, about four hours away from Burnet. 

BCISD has dozens of staff heading to Friday’s game and hopes that the community also comes out in force since campuses will be closed.

“Thank you for your support of our students and athletes,” reads a Monday, Nov. 17 post to the BCISD Facebook page. “Let’s travel well and fill the stands with green! Go Dawgs!”

Tickets to the game can be purchased at this link for $5.

The Bulldogs head coach, Ben Speer, shared his excitement with DailyTrib.

“It feels great, I’m just so joyful for those kids,” he said of the team’s win against Andrews. “Especially the seniors, they’ve been through so much adversity this season. It’d be so easy for them to pull away from the team and be selfish, but they never wavered.”

Burnet’s win over Andrews was redemptive, as the Bulldogs also faced the team in the first round of the 2024 playoffs, losing 35-21. 

Speer said that  the team is riding high from their win, but they’re refocusing for the game against Randall.

“We sure enjoyed the heck out of the win, those kids earned it, but as fun as it is, we’re on to the next one,” he said.

Burnet’s current record is 4-7 overall and Randall’s is 9-2 overall. The Randall team won 49-0 against their first round opponent, the Austin High School Panthers. 

dakota@thepicayune.com