Inset: Oninda Romelus (Fayette County Sheriff's Office). Background: A Texas gas station that Oninda Romelus allegedly went to after shooting her four kids (KHOU/YouTube).
A Texas mother accused of gunning down her four children during a car ride, killing two of them, has allegedly started talking about the slayings while behind bars — insisting she is "not a monster" and that it's actually one of her dead kids who is to blame, saying: "My oldest has a history of psychotic episodes threatening people."
Speaking in jailhouse interviews last week, Oninda Romelus told local NBC affiliate KPRC that the oldest child she is accused of killing, 13-year-old O'Karreo Covington, pulled a firearm on her while she was driving with the boy and his three siblings, Amourra Chappel, 3, who died, and Kylee Romelus, 9, and Traviel Downer, 8, who were both shot but survived.
"I remember my oldest aiming the gun at me," Romelus allegedly claimed. "I swear to God my son was growling at me … (I told him) 'What the f—? Stop. Stop. Stop.'"
Authorities say it was Romelus who carried out the killings and acted bizarrely, noting how she was "paranoid about her surroundings" during police interviews. The mother told investigators she "couldn't talk about" why she took her children's lives and then proceeded to bring them to a local gas station after she called 911 and reported what happened, according to court documents.
"Instead of them doing it to me, I'm gonna do it to them," Romelus said, according to a criminal complaint.
"Do what?" a deputy asked.
"Kill them all," Romelus allegedly replied.
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Romelus allegedly told KPRC, "I'm not crazy," during her jailhouse interviews, and that her 13-year-old "has a long track record" of threatening people. She said she gathered up her children and started driving around with them that day because she believed an ex was stalking her.
Asked about her statements to cops, Romelus allegedly said, "I swear my hand before God, I don't remember any of that."
Police say Romelus gunned down her children inside her car and then showed up to a gas station in Brazoria County with them all suffering from gunshot wounds. Another child, a 17-year-old boy, was not with them and could not immediately be located after the shootings, according to local Fox and NBC affiliates KRIV and KPRC, respectively. It's unclear if police ever found him.
Romelus is charged with two counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Cops believe she shot her kids sometime before 4:45 a.m., according to court documents obtained by Law&Crime. She allegedly claimed during police interviews that they're with "the devil" now.
Before showing up to the gas station, the Montgomery County mother called 911 and asked authorities to meet her at a gas station in Angleton. Her children were in the vehicle when authorities arrived.
According to the complaint, Romelus was in a white passenger car with the engine running and "all of the doors opened" when cops arrived. One of her kids was positioned with their "body hanging halfway out of the front passenger door, with legs in the vehicle and the upper torso and head on the ground," the complaint says.
Surveillance footage allegedly shows Romelus pulling into the gas station and pumping gas, with police saying she purchased $56 worth of fuel.
"Romelus was talking on her phone as she can be seen getting fuel," the complaint alleges. "She is observed walking around to the driver's side of the vehicle, where she peers into the rear window before sitting back in the driver's seat of the vehicle."
After her arrest, the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant at Romelus' home and allegedly found evidence related to possible fraud that Romelus may have been committing. The evidence haul included 33 social security cards, 48 identification cards, 16 credit cards, 2 treasury checks in envelopes, 15 packages of wrapped blank checks, 2 unwrapped stacks of blank checks, and other items that prompted a suspicion of criminal activity, KPRC reported.
Police say in the warrant that the social security cards and treasury checks were sent to Romelus' address, but they had other people's names on them. Shipping labels, phones, computers, laptops, printers and other electronic devices used "in the course of creating fraudulent pieces of identifying information" were allegedly found in an office.
Romelus is currently being held on a $14 million bond. She is due in court on Jan. 14, 2026, for a status hearing.