Christa Gilley’s Parents and Her Husband’s Brother Are Fighting in a Houston Courtroom Over Who Will Raise Her Two Children as Lee Gilley Faces a Capital Murder Charge

Two families who both say they want what Christa Gilley would have wanted are asking a Harris County jury to decide where her son and daughter will grow up. Christa’s parents, Chris and Sharon Bauer, are seeking sole custody of Madi and Gannon, while her husband’s brother, Matt Gilley, and his wife, Cristin, want the children to live with them in North Carolina, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The children’s father, Lee Gilley, is charged with capital murder in Christa’s October 2024 death and is in custody in Italy, where he fled in May while awaiting trial. Closing arguments in the custody case were expected Friday, Oct. 30, before jurors begin deliberating, KPRC 2 reported.

Two Families Asking for the Same Children

The custody trial opened at the Harris County Civil Courthouse in downtown Houston, with testimony starting Oct. 21, according to the Chronicle. Angela Stout represents the Bauers. Dennis Slate represents Matt and Cristin Gilley.

The Bauers are asking to be named sole managing conservators. The Gilleys are asking for a joint conservatorship in which they would serve as the primary caretakers, and the Chronicle reported they have also filed for adoption in a separate proceeding.

Madi was 3 and Gannon was 1 when their mother was killed. Gannon turned 2 on Halloween 2024, just weeks later.

Birthday Parties, Bedtimes and T-Ball

Chris Bauer, 67, was the first witness. He told jurors that he and Sharon flew to Houston on Oct. 11, 2024, and that their first goal was to put the children’s routines back in place, from Gannon’s eczema treatment to Madi’s T-ball games, according to the Chronicle.

The day after they arrived, the family went to Czechfest in the Heights. Christa had already ordered a bounce house and costumes for Gannon’s second birthday, and the Bauers held the party at the Heights home before Halloween, dressed as a praying mantis and a butterfly, with dozens of guests.

The family stayed in Houston for eight months, then moved in June 2025 to Summerville, South Carolina, the Bauers’ hometown, where Christa’s sisters live nearby. Bauer testified that weekends now include swimming, bike rides, church and visits to their mother’s grave.

He also told the jury he worries Matt and Cristin could expose the children to their father. Slate answered that concern directly in court: “Matt isn’t Lee.”

The Phone Calls at the Center of the Case

Much of the trial has turned on contact between the two brothers before Lee left the country. Cristin Gilley testified on Wednesday and Thursday that some of Matt’s calls with Lee were about her mother-in-law’s ongoing cancer treatment, and that the calls never happened while the children were present, KPRC 2 reported.

She told jurors she had offered daily FaceTime calls and trackers as safety measures, and that the offers did not appear to get a response. She said she had no knowledge of Lee’s plans to flee. Chris Bauer had testified that the Gilleys “formed a bubble,” while Cristin said her family felt pushed out of the children’s lives.

Lee Gilley has been barred from any contact with the children since his arrest as a condition of his bond, according to KPRC 2. Judge Angela Lancelin did not change the custody or visitation orders after he left the country.

What Texas Law Asks Jurors to Weigh

In Texas, a jury, not only a judge, can decide who raises a child. Under Section 105.002 of the Texas Family Code, a party can request a jury, and the court may not overrule the jury’s verdict on who is named sole or joint managing conservator or which conservator decides where the child lives. Jurors cannot set child support or the specific terms of a visitation schedule.

The guiding standard comes from Section 153.002, which says the best interest of the child “shall always be the primary consideration” in conservatorship decisions.

A Murder Case Waiting on Italy

Prosecutors say Lee Gilley discussed plans to flee and obtain a new identity in April 2025. The following month he cut off his ankle monitor and left for Italy, weeks before his scheduled trial, and claimed asylum there. The medical examiner ruled Christa’s death a homicide caused by compression of the neck.

On Oct. 19, KPRC 2 reported that the Court of Appeal in Turin had partially granted the U.S. extradition request, approving it for murder but not capital murder. The court accepted prosecutors’ assurances that Gilley would not face execution, ruled that a Texas sentence of life without parole would violate the Italian constitution, and said the death of the unborn child is a separate offense under Italian law rather than a second murder.

That distinction matters in Texas, where Section 19.03 of the Penal Code makes murdering more than one person in the same criminal transaction a capital felony. A capital conviction carries either death or life without parole under Section 12.31, while a murder conviction carries 5 to 99 years or life with the possibility of parole, according to KPRC 2.

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office told the station it is reviewing the Italian court’s opinion, and Gilley’s Italian defense team plans to appeal, according to Italian media cited by KPRC. Gilley has not been convicted of any crime. It is unclear when, or whether, he will return to Texas.

For now, the question in front of the Harris County jury is narrower and closer to home: which family Madi and Gannon will grow up with.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: i_am_jim – CC BY-SA 3.0/Wikimedia Commons