San Antonio police sort out killings of 3 from Texas City

 

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6515385.html

By ROBERT CROWE San Antonio Express-News

July 7, 2009, 10:03AM

By most accounts, the volatile relationship between punk rocker Courtney Gass and rap producer Christopher Allgood should have ended months ago.

It was filled with violence against each other long before Gass, their 2-year-old daughter Anika, and their 26-year-old friend Kevin Bones were found fatally shot inside the couple’s North Side apartment early Sunday morning, according to police and family court records.

Allgood, 30, has been charged in Gass’ death, but authorities are still unsure whether the former Texas City resident killed Anika and Bones, in part, because of a startling confession — one that he repeated to reporters as he was ushered to jail.

“She told me that she did it,” Allgood said, blaming his girlfriend.

Police declined to discuss details of the case Monday, only to say the investigation was ongoing.

“We are looking into all possibilities,” said Officer Joe Rios, a San Antonio Police Department spokesman.

In what initially appeared to be an open-and-shut case, with Allgood arrested outside the apartment with rifle in hand, the police investigation has turned into a lengthy, complicated one that has police studying ballistics and other evidence before filing any additional charges.

Meanwhile, Gass’ friends and family are furious that Allgood’s allegation has stalled the investigation. They admit Gass was troubled, but that she would never hurt Anika.

“He’s a coward who’s afraid of admitting that he killed his own innocent little daughter,” said Gass’ mother, Judy Bradley.

But Allgood’s friends say — and police and Children’s Protective Services records indicate — that Allgood wasn’t the only one conflicted. Gass — who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had a history of drug addiction — had shown streaks of violence, too.

Gass, 26, was charged with assaulting Allgood on June 22 following another day of heavy drinking. According to the police report, he had multiple lacerations on his face after she hit him repeatedly with closed fists.

“I don’t think Chris would lie about that,” said Matthew Perez,

Allgood’s friend and the manager of his rap group, Committee of Majority. “Courtney was so crazy sometimes.”

But friends say Gass was more often the victim in the relationship.

“There are so many times he left bruises on her face and police were never called,” Bradley said.

Friends and family said Bones, a Texas City resident, was visiting the couple for the night on a trip to Corpus Christi to visit his mother. Mutual friend Michael Humphrey of Galveston said Bones drove from Texas City to Austin, where he picked up a camera that Gass had left a few weeks ago following a concert.

“He was that good of a friend that he would take a little bend in his trip just to get a camera for a friend,” Humphrey said. “He was an all-around good guy.”

Allgood moved to San Antonio about 10 months ago, while Gass and Anika moved in with him three months later.

Bradley, Gass’ mother, thinks that Allgood killed her daughter because she was planning to leave him that night and move in with another friend in Austin. Bones was going to give her a ride, she said.

“I’m thinking Chris was upset that she was going to leave him,” Bradley said.

Allgood was working part-time for a local gun range, but he spent most of his time producing music for his rap group with neighbor Billy Watson.

An industrial rock enthusiast, Allgood started a relationship four years ago with Gass, a fan of punk rock, after meeting through the Galveston-area underground music scene.

Records obtained from the Texas City Police Department and CPS show that Anika was born into a home filled with chaos and domestic violence. Both have children living with other guardians.

Texas City police were called to the couple’s various homes seven times on allegations of assaults or domestic disturbances during the first year of Anika’s life. In three of those occasions, Gass was listed as a victim and Allgood as the suspect. In the four other occasions, the positions were reversed.

In July 2007, an allegation was made to the Galveston County CPS that Allgood threw a bottle at Gass as she was holding Anika. But when Gass told the CPS caseworker that she and Anika were leaving Allgood to live in a battered women’s shelter, the CPS caseworker closed the case.

Six months later in January 2008, a referral of physical neglect was made. Someone reported that Anika had a diaper rash, she was dirty and that Gass was addicted to drugs. But, caseworkers closed the case after finding minimal diaper rash and Gass’ volunteer admittance into a drug rehabilitation program that she eventually completed, according to Mary Walker, spokeswoman for Child Protective Services’ San Antonio region.

“She made some bad decisions, and yes she had been addicted to prescription drugs, but there’s no one that’s ever gonna convince me that she killed her daughter,” Bradley said.

Express-News Staff Writer Nancy Preyor-Johnson and Houston Chronicle Staff Writer James Pinkerton contributed to this story.