The victims' bodies were discovered by a local resident and were identified as: David Maxwell (20), Joey Johnson (20), Monty Landers (19), Mary Tyler (37) and Opie Hughes (39).
[2] In November 2005, two men (already in prison for other crimes) were arrested and charged: cousins Darnell Hartsfield (44) and Romeo Pinkerton (47).
At the time of arrest, Hartsfield, a Tyler resident, was serving a life sentence for aggravated perjury in connection with the case.
[citation needed] The murders were featured in the "Friday Night Ghosts" episode of Cold Case Files, which aired in February 2022.
[7] On May 4, 2022, one of the two suspects, Darnell Hartsfield, died after suffering a massive hemorrhagic stroke in his jail cell at the French M. Robertson Unit in Abilene at age 61.