The Brazoria County Sheriff's Office said it all unfolded Saturday morning, when Romelus called them at 4:48 a.m., asking for authorities. The sheriff's office said they didn't know exactly what they were responding to at the time.
Court records state that surveillance footage showed Romelus pull up to a gas pump and talk on her phone as she was getting fuel.
When deputies responded to that gas station off of State Highway 288, the documents said they found Romelus' car running with all doors open and some of the children's bodies covered in a white sheet.
According to those records, deputies found a 13-year-old boy slumped over in the passenger seat with gunshot wounds and three other children in the backseat who were also shot.
Law enforcement said the teen boy and a 3-year-old girl died. An 8-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl were taken via life flight to a hospital in Houston, where they are in stable condition, according to the sheriff's office.
Romelus is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Her bond was set at $14 million.
According to court records, during an interview at the county jail, Romelus appeared to be paranoid about her surroundings while repeatedly looking toward the door.
In those documents, investigators described how she initially said she couldn't talk about what happened but then said, "Instead of them doing it to me, I'm going to do it to them."
When an investigator asked, "Do what?" according to those records, she responded, "Kill them all."
This investigation went across county lines and took law enforcement north to a home in Montgomery County, where investigators said Romelus lived. A neighbor ABC13 spoke with, who did not want to show her face, said all of this was a lot to process.
"It's just heartbreaking," the neighbor said. "I just want to cry. It breaks my heart because there's just... there's no reason for it."
The neighbor said she used to see two of the children coming to and from the house almost daily.
"13-year-old looked like a sweet young man taking care of his little sister, walking her home every day," the neighbor said. "It's going to be hard when we sit out in the afternoon not to see him bringing his little sister home and waving at them and telling him to be careful and have a good day."
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