Former Rare Staff
One of the most horrific mass murders in recent memory took place at a home in Plano, Texas on Sunday, as friends who had gathered to enjoy each other’s company and welcome back the football season with some Giants-Cowboys action were brutally gunned down by the estranged husband of their friend.
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Police responded to a 911 call just after 8 p.m. on Sunday and found that Spencer Hight, 32, had murdered eight people. Hight fired at the police officer and the officer returned fire, killing him. According to WFAA, one of the victims on scene was Hight’s ex-wife Meredith Lane.
Just months before, Hight, Lane’s estranged husband, moved out of the home, and only days ago removed the rest of his stuff from the residence. Lane’s mother has spoken out after her daughter’s murder and says that the party was supposed to be the beginning of a new chapter in her life. She said her daughter was the happiest that she’s been in years.
“It was officially ‘out with the old and in with the new,’” Debbie Lane said. “It was her reclaiming her life, and she was thrilled to be doing that. It was the happiest she’d been in years. Years.”
“I think he saw our comfort, ease, and happiness […] and her embracing new life, and resented it to the maximum and responded the way he did,” she continued.
The eight victims have all been identified by age and name: Meredith Lane, 27; Anthony Michael Cross, 33; Olivia Nicole Diffner, 24; James Richard Dunlop, 29; Darryl William Hawkins, 22; Rion Christopher Morgan, 31; Myah Sade Bass, 28; Caleb Seth Richards, 25.
WFAA noted that Dunlop was the best man at Spencer Hight and Meredith Lane’s wedding and Morgan was a groomsman. All four knew each other from school and Dunlop even let Hight stay at his house after he moved out in March.
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“I don’t think he was crazy, I think we make choices consciously. He was not stupid. I think he chose evil,” Debbie said.
