To the family and friends of Gerry Faye, I am so happy to hear about this indictment! My mother worked with Gerry at Stanco for a long time and I am sad to say for the longest time we thought my father (who was shot and killed in 1997 by a police officer during an altercation) had commited this murder. McKenzie was my best friend Summer's half sister so I am extremely glad they will finally get justice.

CITIZENS JOURNAL
Hailey pleads guilty
Friday, 23 October 2009
Michael Kevin Hailey pled guilty Friday afternoon to the 1992 murder of 29-year-old Gerri Faye Butts.
Hailey went before Judge Ralph K. Burgess in the Fifth District Court of Cass County to enter his plea.
District Attorney Clint Allen said he believes that justice has been served with Haileys conviction.
This case has been under investigation for almost 18 years and we are pleased that we have been able to bring closure to the Butts family and to Cass County, Allen said.
Hailey was sentenced to 99 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice-Institutional Division, a life sentence, to run concurrent with the current life sentence that he is serving in Angola Prison in Louisiana for an attempted murder that occurred during a bar fight.
Butts and her two daughters, 11-year-old Jessica Nicole and 3-year-old McKenzie Dawn, were found dead in their home on Walnut Street in Atlanta on Jan. 27, 1992.
Butts body was found on the living room couch, Jessica was found on the bed in the mobile homes largest bedroom with a phone cord wrapped around her neck and McKenzie was found in a bathtub where she had been drowned.
Two of Butts brothers and the husband of her babysitter made the discovery.
In her victim impact statement, Butts mother Lanette Lawless told Hailey,My daughter was a 100-pound fighter and you know she was.
This only gives us partial closure, Lanette said.We will never forget that day.
Brian Butts, brother of Gerri Faye, broke down while giving his statement. He told Hailey I hope that each day and night you are haunted by what you did.
Following the hearing, Lanette said she felt good about it.At least he is going away and he cant hurt anyone else. He will die there.
Hailey, who was 24 at the time, was first arrested for the murder on March 19, 1992 and was released after nearly three months for insufficient evidence.
Haileys father, Jerry Hailey, was a deputy at the Cass County Sheriffs Office at the time and was fired for interfering with a police investigation after he advised his son not to take a polygraph test.
In 1992, then district attorney Neal Birmingham and Haileys defense attorney Doug Mulder stated that Haileys hairs found at the scene and his partial handprint on the bathtub were not enough to take before a grand jury.
As the years went on, the investigation continued culminating in Haileys October 2007 indictment.
Hailey was transported to Cass County Jail from Angola Prison where he was residing until his trial that was scheduled to begin next week.
Allen said this has been one of the most complex cases he has worked.With these types of cases, prosecutors have to make difficult decisions, he said.
Allen said they discussed the plea bargain with the Butts family and about including only the murder of Gerri Faye Butts in the bargain.It was a difficult decision to make, but it was the reasonable way to handle it, he said.
He said the plea bargain would not have been made without the familys approval.
It has been a long road, Allen said.
New evidence was going to be presented in the trial if Hailey had not pled guilty and Allen said he speculates that Hailey pled guilty because he realized it was in his best interest to do so based on that new evidence.
If Hailey had gone to trial and been found guilty by a jury, his sentence could possibly have been the same, if the death penalty was not approved.
Hailey will remain in Cass County for around one week before returning to Angola Prison in Louisiana where he will serve out his time.Louisiana authorities have told us that Hailey is out of appeals there, Allen said.
He hopes that with Haileys conviction, the public can draw a conclusion as to his involvement in the deaths of Gerri Fayes daughters, Jessica and McKenzie.
Haileys mother, Kathy Weaver, is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of her husband.