East Texas

By LAUREN GROVER
Staff Writer

ALBA – For nearly two days Terry Caffey has slipped in and out of consciousness between procedures to remove five bullets from his body – each time he woke, he heard gunshots.

"He’s still hearing the shots," said family friend Diane Dunlap, whose uncle, Tommy Gaston, has stayed at Caffey’s bedside in East Texas Medical Center at Tyler where he was moved out of ICU on Sunday. "The ringing of gunfire in his head, it’s still there. He’ll probably hear it for a long time."

As gunshots broke the silence of his rural Alba home in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday morning, Caffey was losing his family. His wife, 37-year-old Penny Caffey, a church pianist known for her home cooking, was shot and stabbed in their bedroom. His older son, Mathew Caffey, 13, a guitarist and harmonica player, was shot and stabbed in his bedroom.

His younger son Taylor Caffey, 8, who was shy and often hugged and kissed his mother, was stabbed in his bedroom. The house was engulfed in flames by 4:30 a.m. when firefighters arrived, the bodies of Penny, Mathew and Taylor still inside.

Caffey’s 16-year-old daughter, a girl known for her beautiful singing voice and bubbly personality, was also at the house that morning before she allegedly left with three other suspects accused of the triple murder. Authorities found her hiding in a mobile home. On Sunday authorities charged the Caffey’s daughter and three others with three counts of capital murder for the slaying of her mother and brothers.

But Terry Caffey lived. Shot five times in the head, shoulders and chest, he crawled across a 300-yard field to his friend Tommy Gaston’s door, bloodying the front porch. As Gaston went to dial 911, Caffey told his neighbor that his family was dead.

"He told my uncle they were all gone," Dunlap said. "He does remember."

Like others living in the wide-open spaces of Alba and Emory, Dunlap has struggled and prayed through the whys, she said, that still overwhelm her thoughts. They’re only answerable through God’s grace and sovereignty, she said. As the Miracle Faith Baptist church family gathered on Sunday morning and tearfully prayed for Terry Caffey, Dunlap thought of Job.

"This may be Terry’s Job – in the Bible, how God tested him and he lost his wife, his home, everything, and through it all he did not lose faith in God," she said. "I see Terry coming out of this very strong – he’s an inspiring person – someone with a tremendous testimony."

Dunlap’s daughter, Jeanie, said pastors from every church in Rains County called in to offer help. Church members are ready to collect money for Terry’s needs.

"Best thing living around here is that everyone helps with everything," said Cassie Schuder, 24, of Emory. "We take care of each other."

Charlie James Wilkinson, 19, was dating the Caffey’s daughter, according to classmates, and attended youth group with the 16-year-old who was as dedicated to church as her parents, Dunlap said. The teenagers at Miracle Faith, many of them friends with the daughter and Wilkinson, are devastated, Diane Dunlap said.

"Some had to be carried out of the church this morning," she said. "They’re emotionally drained. When you see 17- and 18-year-old boys in tears, it takes a lot. They needed their mothers today, to walk with them and hold them in their arms."
The daughter sang "beautifully," Dunlap said, who saw her perform with her mother at church.

"She was bubbly, always smiling, a typical teenager," she said. "She liked to make a fashion statement. Nothing inappropriate, but just colorful and boisterous, hairdos and hoops, like kids do. Of the three kids, she was the most energetic and outgoing."

Mathew Caffey, 13, was just coming out of his shell, Dunlap recalled, as he entered his growth spurt and teenage years. Terry was about to be ordained as a Baptist minister, and Penny would joke that he sometimes practiced his sermons on her, Dunlap said.

"They appeared to be a very loving couple," she said. "They believed in Bible study, family Bible time, and they lived that, they showed that."

A week before the murders, Terry’s father died and he and son Mathew played "Amazing Grace" on harmonicas at the funeral. There didn’t seem to be any strain or change in the family’s dynamics in recent days or weeks, the Dunlaps said.

"There has been a tremendous amount of tragedy in that family," Diane Dunlap said. "I’m just in awe that it happened, here in Rains County, to a Christian family who don’t bother anybody."

But her conclusion, and her congregation’s, remains the same: "God is the only one who can take care of this," she said. "He’s still the same as He always was, and our strength comes from Him."

She hopes the church will be more alert to teaching its younger members how to cope with anger, how to love family and not strike out in vengeance. It’s frustrating, the lack of respect in too many teenagers now, Dunlap said.

"If it continues, we’re going to have more and more teenagers who think, oh, it’s OK, I can go shoot somebody," she said. "That’s just real hard."

Young love can be blinding, and a careless remark made to harm someone might be carried out and can’t be undone, Dunlap said.

"I don’t think (the murders) were something that was planned, I think it was in the moment," she said. "When you think you’re in love with someone, you just lose reality."

On Sunday night, Miracle Faith Baptist folks and others gathered for another hour of prayer. And they will keep praying, Dunlap said.

"Our whole church, we’re trying to band together so we can help each other," Jeanie Dunlap said. "Terry’s not going to be out of the hospital for awhile, and we want to be ready to help him when he is."

Jennifer McClanahan, 17, Rains High School Senior, reflects on her classmates who allegedly killed Penny Caffey, and her sons Mathew and Tyler and seriously wounded Terry Caffey in Rains County early Saturday morning.
((Staff Photo By Herb Nygren Jr.))