On the night of March 15, 1938, in Center, Texas, 38-year-old Lillie Mae Curtis waited for her children to fall asleep before carrying out a tragic act. Armed with a .22 caliber pistol, she proceeded to fatally shoot six of her sleeping children, including her 8-year-old son, Robert Curtis Jr. The other victims were Thomas 'T.O.' Curtis, 13; Gloria Jean Curtis, 11; Billie Burke Curtis, 9; Margie Rae Curtis, 7; and Marcey Jack Curtis, 5. Her 15-year-old son, Travis James Curtis, was the sole child in the house who was spared; he later contacted the authorities to report the incident. Two other children were not present that night: Opal Curtis, 18, who was married and living elsewhere, and Vance Curtis, 17, who was visiting his grandparents.
Lillie Mae Curtis was apprehended approximately 400 yards from the family home, where the bodies of her six children lay. Upon her arrest, she confessed to the murders, stating, 'I have no money and they are better off dead.' She explained that her financial struggles led her to believe that ending their lives was a merciful act, as she felt unable to support them.
This was not the first time Lillie Mae had committed such an act. Three years earlier, in 1935, she had killed her husband, 41-year-old Robert Curtis, by shooting him in the head while he slept. She was tried for his murder and received a five-year suspended sentence, possibly due to the jury's consideration of her responsibility for their nine children. Had a harsher sentence been imposed, the subsequent tragedy involving her children might have been averted.
In April 1938, Lillie Mae Curtis was tried for the murders of her six children. She displayed no emotion upon hearing the guilty verdict. Reports vary regarding her sentence; some indicate she received a single 99-year sentence, while others suggest she was sentenced to 99 years for each murder, totaling 594 years. Regardless, she served 42 years before being released in October 1970.
