Terry Lee Hankins: The Texas Family Serial Killer
Background
Terry Lee Hankins was an American murderer responsible for killing five members of his own family in Tarrant County, Texas, during a period lasting from October 2000 through August 2001. Born on October 10, 1974, Hankins worked at different times as an automobile mechanic and laborer. His crimes remained partly hidden because two of his earliest victims were never reported missing, allowing their bodies to remain concealed for months. The full extent of the killings was not discovered until Hankins became a suspect in the shooting deaths of his estranged wife and two stepchildren in Mansfield, Texas, in August 2001.
After his arrest, Hankins unexpectedly admitted that the three Mansfield killings were not his first murders. He directed investigators to the remains of his father, Earnie Lee Hankins, and his half-sister, Pearl "Sissy" Sevenstar, both of whom had been killed approximately ten months earlier. The discoveries transformed the investigation from a multiple homicide case into the examination of a series of five killings committed against members of Hankins's own family.
The Murder of Pearl Sevenstar
On October 1, 2000, Hankins killed his 20-year-old half-sister, Pearl "Sissy" Sevenstar. According to his later statement to investigators, Hankins became angry with Pearl and attacked her by repeatedly striking her in the back of the head with a heavy automobile jack or jack stand. After killing her, he concealed her remains rather than reporting her death.
Pearl's body was placed inside plastic or a plastic container and hidden in a vehicle at the automobile repair property associated with Hankins's father. Her remains stayed there for approximately ten months. Because Pearl had not been reported missing, police had no active homicide investigation involving her while Hankins continued his life and eventually committed additional murders.
The Murder of Earnie Lee Hankins
Approximately one week later, on October 8, 2000, Hankins killed his father, 55-year-old Earnie Lee Hankins. The shooting occurred during an argument. Hankins told investigators that his father produced a .45-caliber handgun during the confrontation. Hankins took possession of the weapon and fired it, fatally shooting his father.
Earnie's body was left inside his mobile home in Arlington, Texas. Hankins concealed the death for months and gave people misleading explanations about his father's absence. When investigators finally entered the residence in August 2001, they discovered Earnie's badly decomposed remains. Numerous air fresheners had reportedly been placed around the residence, apparently masking the odor from the body. Hankins had also continued activities connected with his father's property and business, helping maintain the appearance that nothing unusual had occurred.
The Murder of Tammy Hankins
On August 26, 2001, the violence resumed when Hankins went to the Mansfield, Texas, residence of his estranged wife, 34-year-old Tammy Hankins. Tammy was asleep when Hankins shot her once in the head. Her body remained inside the home.
The killing of Tammy was followed almost immediately by the murders of two of her children. Unlike the deaths of Pearl and Earnie, which had remained hidden for many months, the disappearance and deaths of Tammy and her children quickly attracted attention from relatives and law enforcement.
The Murders of Kevin Galley and Ashley Mason
On August 27, 2001, one day after Tammy was killed, Hankins shot her children, Kevin Galley and Ashley Mason. Kevin was 12 years old. Ashley was approximately 10 or 11 years old in contemporary accounts. Both children were shot in the head inside the Mansfield residence.
The evidence surrounding Ashley's death indicated that she may have attempted to defend herself. Prosecutors later presented evidence that injuries were found on her body and that hair identified as Hankins's was recovered from her hand. Investigators also recovered physical evidence from the residence that connected Hankins to the crime scene. Ammunition evidence from the children's murders was later linked to a firearm recovered from the apartment where Hankins was arrested.
Victims
- Pearl "Sissy" Sevenstar — Age 20. Killed October 1, 2000. Hankins's half-sister. She was fatally beaten in the head with an automobile jack or jack stand. Her remains were concealed in a vehicle at an automotive property in the Arlington/Tarrant County area of Texas.
- Earnie Lee Hankins — Age 55. Killed October 8, 2000. Hankins's father. He was fatally shot during an argument and his body was left inside his mobile home in Arlington, Texas, where it remained undiscovered for approximately ten months.
- Tammy Hankins — Age 34. Killed August 26, 2001. Hankins's estranged wife. She was shot once in the head while sleeping inside her residence in Mansfield, Texas.
- Kevin Galley — Age 12. Killed August 27, 2001. Hankins's stepson. He was fatally shot in the head inside the family residence in Mansfield, Texas.
- Ashley Mason — Approximately age 10 to 11. Killed August 27, 2001. Hankins's stepdaughter. She was fatally shot in the head inside the Mansfield residence. Evidence presented at trial indicated that she had defensive injuries.
Discovery of the Crimes and Arrest
After Tammy Hankins and her children were found dead, investigators focused on Terry Hankins. Police eventually located him at his girlfriend's apartment in Arlington. A standoff lasting approximately five hours followed before Hankins surrendered to authorities.
During questioning, Hankins made a startling disclosure. In addition to acknowledging responsibility for the deaths connected to the Mansfield residence, he told investigators that he had killed his father and half-sister months earlier. He provided information about where their bodies could be found. Police subsequently located Earnie's decomposed body inside the Arlington mobile home and Pearl's remains concealed at the automobile property.
Before Hankins confessed, authorities had not been investigating either Earnie or Pearl as murder victims. Their disappearances had effectively been hidden by Hankins's explanations to people around them. The discoveries demonstrated how he had been able to conceal two killings for nearly a year before the murders of Tammy, Kevin and Ashley finally brought police attention to him.
Trial and Death Sentence
Hankins was prosecuted for the killings of his stepchildren, Kevin Galley and Ashley Mason. The prosecution presented physical evidence from the crime scene as well as information concerning Hankins's other killings during the punishment phase of his trial. His admissions concerning Pearl Sevenstar and Earnie Hankins gave jurors a broader picture of the violence he had committed against members of his family.
In May 2002, a Tarrant County jury convicted Hankins of capital murder. He received a death sentence and was transferred to Texas death row. Although five deaths were attributed to him, the convictions that resulted in his execution centered on the murders of the two children.
Execution
Terry Lee Hankins remained on death row for approximately seven years. He was executed by lethal injection at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit on June 2, 2009. He was 34 years old. In his final statement, Hankins apologized for his actions and for the suffering they had caused.
The Hankins case became particularly disturbing because every known victim belonged to his family or immediate household. Two murders were successfully concealed for months, and the truth about those deaths emerged only after three additional family members had been killed. His confession ultimately allowed investigators to recover the long-hidden remains of Pearl Sevenstar and Earnie Hankins and establish the full known sequence of five killings committed between October 2000 and August 2001.
