As details have come to light about the troubled mental health and repeated warnings to law enforcement about Genesse Moreno, the alleged Lakewood Church shooter, questions have been raised about why authorities failed to act in previous instances.
Shortly after police identified Moreno as the shooter who was killed by off-duty police at Joel Osteen’s megachurch in Houston, it emerged that she had a documented history of criminal activity and mental health issues.
Neighbors claim to have frequently seen and reported bizarre behavior and were regularly threatened by Moreno. Jill, who did not provide a last name to Fox News, said she reported Moreno’s bizarre behavior to police repeatedly, but nothing was ever done.
“Four years I’ve been through hell. I have reported this, reported this, reported this, and it’s gone on deaf ears,” Jill told Fox News. “I’ve had psychological officers up here. Since they won’t answer their door, they won’t do anything: ‘Until she hurts you, there’s nothing we can do.’ So, everybody keeps saying on all these big news stations, ‘If you see something, say something.’ That’s bulls***.”
Her ex-mother-in-law claimed that Moreno had displayed disturbing habits, including keeping a gun in her diaper bag and displaying a gun during an argument with Moreno’s ex-husband, according to ABC News.
Another neighbor, Linda Giutta, told Fox News that she “knew it was only a matter of time before [Moreno] did something.”
“We cannot do anything more than what we did. We tried to stop this. We tried to help her, we tried to help us, and we tried to help the public. Something needs to get done. I don’t know what needs to get done, but it needs to get done,” Giutta said.
There are no records indicating that neighbors ever filed a restraining order against Moreno, which is one step that would have given law enforcement the ability to act and may have prevented her from legally possessing firearms. Even in the face of serious allegations, no one appears to have taken the extra step to request a restraining order against Moreno.
“She was after me,” Jill said, per Fox News. “At first it was always like, ‘Oh, it’s because I’m transgender.’ Then it was ‘because we’re Mexican.’ Then it was because ‘we’re Black.’ And then every time, depending on what her narrative was for that day, she’d change the reason you were picking on her. You know?”
“My daughter even called Conroe PD and raised Cain with them and said, ‘Aren’t you guys going to do anything? Are you going to wait until I get the phone call that my mom is dead?'” Jill said. “It’s gotten very scary.”
According to an affidavit, Moreno’s ex-mother-in-law claimed Moreno had previously been involuntarily committed multiple times and was purportedly diagnosed with schizophrenia. Moreno, who reportedly identified as transgender at times, used multiple aliases, including male names.
Per federal law, “A diagnosis of mental illness alone does not prohibit a person from gun possession. Rather, the federal prohibition applies to any person: involuntarily committed to a psychiatric facility; found by a court or other authority to be a danger to self or others due to mental illness; found guilty but mentally ill, not guilty by reason of insanity, or incompetent to stand trial; or appointed a guardian due to mental illness.”
Even still, such restrictions hardly matter if the court clerk does not report the information correctly, an issue that continues to plague record-keepers, according to a report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The bureau found that many people are unaware of what to report or how to report information and may be reluctant to report data due to fear of violating HIPAA laws.
Texas law and federal law are also limited in the types of crimes a person can be convicted of that will prevent firearm ownership. In almost all cases, a felony conviction or any violent misdemeanor will bar ownership. However, this only matters when a person is convicted of a crime. Simply being arrested for a crime is not currently enough to prompt a ban.
Moreno has reportedly been convicted of crimes such as petty theft, attempting to use a counterfeit bill, evading arrest, and other property offenses. Her most serious crime, unlawful carrying of a firearm, is currently considered an active crime.
However, according to an affidavit, Moreno repeatedly committed acts of violence against her now ex-husband, who is currently incarcerated for failing to report as a sex offender. The man reportedly claimed he did not call the police after a violent altercation because he “did not want her to get deported.”
While it is unclear whether she entered the country unlawfully, reports indicate Moreno was not a U.S. citizen.
According to Moreno’s ex-mother-in-law, Moreno’s ex-husband was “reticent to file the criminal charges against his wife … as she already has had criminal convictions, she would likely be deported if convicted of [a] 3rd-degree felony that stems from filing a fraudulent birth certificate.”
The Dallas Express reached out to the Conroe Police Department but a spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
