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Family: Woman had protective order before her murder

Three New Braunfels children have lost both their parents Monday night after a SWAT standoff which left their father dead the day after he was accused of murdering his wife.
LIsa Hermes

NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas -- Three New Braunfels children lost both their parents Monday night after a SWAT standoff left their father dead the day after he was accused of murdering his wife. The family of the murdered woman say they hope her death will provide an impetus for other families suffering from domestic violence to get help.

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New Braunfels police say Jerry Leon Hermes Jr., 35, shot and killed his wife in her car Sunday evening. Lisa Hermes' family said she was returning home from the grocery store and had her three young children in the backseat.

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It was the end of a 10-year marriage which had recently seen turbulent times, according to Lisa's father, Ted Garland.

His daughter and grandchildren had come to live at their New Braunfels home for 60 days after they say Jerry turned violent during a July 15 incident. Garland said Jerry brandished a gun, and after that they sought a protective order.

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"I should have kept her here longer," said Garland, who also said they were in the process of filing aggravated assault charges based on the July incident at the time of his daughter's death. "Lisa was my best friend. I don't know where to go from here."

However, a protective order was granted and Lisa and her kids moved back home. The protective order would have expired mid-October, but Garland said his son-in-law's attorney convinced Lisa to allow it to be reduced to a restraining order.

The restraining order, which prohibited Jerry Hermes from visiting the house where his wife and children lived, was still in place when she was murdered in her driveway.

Lisa's parents say her estranged husband continued to harass her through texts and phone calls. The children, they say, all knew where their hiding places were in the house should their father come calling. He was not living in the family home at the time of his wife's death.

Garland said it was he who called 911 to tell police they needed to get to his daughter's home after she called him panicked that Jerry had showed up.

Garland then rushed over to the house. By the time he got there, officers were already on the scene, and Lisa had been shot.

"They tried to sugar coat it, but I knew," said Garland.

That was 8:20 p.m. Sunday, according to police. Jerry Hermes was on the run until about 2:45 p.m. Monday, when he was found in a barn in the 2600 block of Wosing Lane in Marion, Texas, the Guadalupe County town where Jerry's parents lived, according to the Garlands.

Members of the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force found Hermes, who fired shots at the officers, officials say. A U.S. deputy marshal with the task force shot and killed Hermes, police said.

Lisa had filed for divorce, according to her sister Mandy Riske, who says their first hearing was supposed to be next month. Riske and her parents say they're now grappling to find a way to bring something positive out of Lisa's death.

She lived for her children, according to family, and their focus right now is ensuring they get the counseling and care they need.

The children, two girls and a boy ages 9, 5 and 3, witnessed their mother's murder but were physically unharmed and are staying with family.

Riske said Monday she wants people who hear her sister's story to be reminded to take domestic violence seriously. Lisa had been too embarrassed to tell her family about her marital issues before the incident this July, they say.

While the family questioned whether authorities took early reports of trouble seriously enough, they say they ultimately felt police paid attention to Lisa's concerns. However, they say police clearly underestimated how quickly the situation would escalate.

That's why, Riske says, she wants her big sister's death to be a reminder to families to remain vigilant for the presence of domestic violence in their own families and urges them to seek help.

Here are some domestic violence resources in the area:

Hays-Caldwell Women's Center

Guadalupe County Family Violence Shelter

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