Murders of family members: Judge accused of bias in the case of death row inmate Ronald Haskell, who killed his ex-wife's family in the spring

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Harris County District Attorney's Office wants a district judge to recuse herself from the case of a death row inmate after she ordered him back to Harris County under unusual circumstances.

The motion for recusal to District Judge Natalia Cornelio was filed Oct. 7 “based on conduct that suggests she abandoned her role as a neutral, detached decision-maker to advocate for death row inmate Ronald Lee Haskell,” it says it in it.

Haskell was sentenced to death in 2019. He was charged with six counts of capital murder for shooting six of his family members in their Spring home in 2014.

The crime was described as a “massacre” and the victims included four children aged four to 13 and their parents, Katie and Stephen Stay. Katie was the sister of Haskell's ex-wife, whom he was stalking, authorities said.

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Court records show Cornelio issued an arrest warrant on June 27 for Haskell to appear in her courtroom at midnight a month later.

The DA's office said that never happened and they had no idea Haskell had been released from TDCJ custody.

Instead, during his nearly three-week stay in the Harris County Jail, Haskell called his mother and acknowledged the mysterious nature of his presence, which he described as a “cloak and dagger,” according to a jail memo.

He was also taken to a private imaging clinic near the Texas Medical Center for a scan, according to stills from body camera video filed in court.

Drue Lyon is Katie Stay's brother.

“The inmate was just a few feet – three to four feet – away from some guy who was sitting in the doctor's office waiting for his name to be called. “Did this guy know he was just a few feet away from a mass murderer?” Lyon asked. “Who on earth has that much power and authority? Who authorized this?”

Cornelio did not respond to ABC13's request for comment. A hearing on the motion to dismiss is scheduled for next week.

“We believe her actions demonstrate that she is biased in favor of Ronald Haskell,” said Joshua Reiss, the head of the District Attorney’s Office’s Post-Conviction Writs Unit. “This was a brutal, brutal mass murder. Four children were killed. Everyone has to believe that the system is impartial and fair, and right now, based on what we have found, we believe it is not fair.”

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Lyon said this development only distresses him and his family.

“I think there is a personal agenda that goes beyond the law and that shouldn’t be the case,” he said.

Haskell's defense attorney, Christina Dean, did not respond to questions but defended the judge.

“Nothing about Judge Cornelio’s alleged actions or decisions, which are the subject of the State’s second motion to dismiss, suggests that (1) her impartiality could reasonably be questioned or (2) that she harbors any personal bias or prejudice relation to the object or party. Courts enjoy a “presumption of judicial impartiality,” she wrote in a response to the motion to dismiss.

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