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Brother, 7, Sister, 3, Died From 'Violent Episode'

Father Charged With Capital Murder

POSTED: Tuesday, June 24, 2008
UPDATED: 7:08 pm CDT June 24, 2008

An "unknown violent episode" was the preliminary cause of death given for two children who police said were killed by their father, KPRC Local 2 reported Tuesday.

Randy Sylvester, 27, was charged with capital murder in connection with the deaths of his 7-year-old son Randy Jr. and his 3-year-old daughter, Denim, on Father's Day.


Listen To Full 911 Call About Missing Children

The children's burned bodies were found early Saturday in a wooded area in southeast Houston off of Allendale Road near Old Galveston Road after police said Randy Sylvester told them to search there.

The medical examiner said that because the skeletal remains were charred, specialists would be called in to help determine the exact cause of death. The report only listed an "unknown violent episode" and did not elaborate.

Pasadena police also released the 911 call made by the children's mother when they disappeared on June 14.

Mother: "My kids have been missing since 3 o'clock today -- my 7-year-old and my 3-year-old. They have been missing since 3 o'clock today. I'm sorry."

Dispatcher: "OK. They have been missing. So how did they go missing?"

Mother: "Well, they were outside playing and I was on the porch watching them playing and they just, just disappeared."

The dispatcher questioned the mother about why she waited until 9:15 p.m. to report the children missing, six hours after they were last seen.

Dispatcher: "Why did you just decide to call us now?"

Mother: "Well, I thought they were with a friend and I'm waiting for the friend to come home."

She said that when she finally reached her friend, she learned her children were not with the friend.

Police said the father implied to community activist Quanell X that he killed his children by accident.

"The way we got it was, 'You know how it happened. It was an accident,'" said Bud Corbett with the Pasadena Police Department.

Corbett said Sylvester implied that someone else killed his children because he owed them drug money, and that he only discarded their bodies.

"Now, was this associated with a drug deal, perhaps? And he vehemently denied that repeatedly," Corbett said. "Then, later on, he indicated he was in relation to a drug debt."

Sylvester was on probation for drug charges when his children were killed. He is allegedly behind on monthly $60 payments and community service hours. He also failed to enroll in a drug awareness program, officials said.

Sylvester is being held without bond. Prosecutors said they have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.

Texas EquuSearch has scheduled a memorial service for the children. It will take place on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Gateway Community Church, 760 Clear Lake City Blvd.

Officials said the children would be buried in New Orleans. The family relocated to Houston after Hurricane Katrina.

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