The former mother-in-law of the woman accused of opening fire at celebrity pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood church told ABC News she believes the shooting was “predictable and preventable.”
Wally Carranza, who identifies on Facebook as a rabbi, revealed the mental health issues of his former daughter-in-law, Jenness Moreno, noting, “Despite the fact that she had schizophrenia, she was allowed to own guns.”
When news broke of the shooting at Lakewood Church in Houston on Sunday, Carranza said her heart sank.
She said the details describing the female shooter and a young boy sounded eerily similar to her former daughter-in-law and grandson, prompting her to call Houston police Sunday night to request a background check.
On Monday morning, Carranza said police called her and confirmed her worst fears: Moreno, 36, had opened fire in the church and she was shot and killed by officers, according to police.
Carranza’s 7-year-old grandson, Sam, was shot in the head and remains in the hospital in critical condition, according to authorities.
A man, believed to be a parishioner, was also shot in the incident and has since been released from the hospital, police said.
It is unclear whether Sam and the parishioner were shot by Moreno or struck by officer-involved shooting.
The motive remains under investigation. Police are digging into the story of Moreno, who has a well-documented history of mental health issues and a criminal record, according to an ABC News review of documents and records.
“It was predictable and preventable,” Carranza said. “At one point I reached for [the] Joel Osteen’s Church is asking for help for a mother and for intervention as I would expect someone to contact me if any of my fellow believers are in a situation that needs my intervention. And that’s exactly what I needed from him. I needed their team and I don’t know what they did. I don’t know if they succeeded.”
Carranza told ABC News that when he first met Moreno, the young woman wore a hijab and said she practiced Islam. But she said that when Moreno and Carranza’s son, Quito, found out they were pregnant, Quito was adamant about raising their son around the Jewish faith.
Carranza said Moreno’s mother was a parishioner at Lakewood Church and often attended the Spanish-language service that was scheduled to begin around the time of the shooting.
“There was a very contentious relationship between her and her mother,” Carranza said. “Her mother told us she was afraid of Jenness.”
Carranza said Moreno has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and is on medication intermittently. She said that after Moreno became pregnant, she stopped taking her medication and her mental health deteriorated.
Carranza said her grandson was born prematurely. She said Moreno had drugs in his system and “was born exposed to drugs himself,” so Child Protective Services “was involved in this case from the beginning.”
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services told ABC News it was unable to release details about the case because investigations are confidential.
Although Moreno was on the radar of government and law enforcement, Carranza said she felt the system failed to help her family.
Carranza recalled a terrifying moment while living in Colorado when her then 3-year-old grandson handed her a gun from Moreno’s diaper bag.
“I secured him, got Sam, went to the police station and handed him in,” she said.
Carranza said she plans to visit her grandson in the hospital Tuesday afternoon and sing songs by his side.
“He’ll know I’m there. He will know that this is the same voice he heard in the NICU singing to him,” she said. You failed to protect the child from something so horrific, you have to put it aside when you’re in the room with the child, so all they feel is hope.”
