Buda couple charged with murder

A couple police say went to sleep in their Buda home last summer while a man they had stabbed and shot with an air gun was dying there have been arrested for his murder.

Mark James Stevens and Jeanette Lauralee Stevens, both 38, were taken into custody Wednesday by the Hays County Sheriff’s Office and charged with first-degree murder. 

Both are behind bars in lieu of individual $250,000 bonds set by Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 Beth Smith.

They are accused of killing Brandon Lamont Fontenette, 36, of Austin on July 26.

Deputies responded to a welfare concern call concerning the couple’s home in the 200 block of Brandon’s Way in Buda at approximately 7:51 a.m. on July 26 and on arrival, were given permission to enter. A press release from HCSO Deputy Stephen Traeger said that once inside, they located Fontenette dead with “traumatic injuries” from being shot multiple times with a BB gun and also stabbed.

Investigation revealed he received his injuries around 4:30 a.m. “He died with no efforts at resuscitation or medical intervention where he remained with the Stevens family asleep in the house until law enforcement arrived,” Riffe said. 

“Law enforcement conducted multiple witness interviews, effected several search warrants and obtained forensic medical evidence that contradicted the scenario relayed by Mark and Jeannette Stevens that led to their arrest.”