In a city where the most exciting thing to do on a Wednesday night is usually complaining about the dust or wondering why the line at Raising Cane’s is three miles long, the residents of 126th Street decided to spice things up. Around 7:20 p.m., while most of us were settling into our evening routine of questioning our life choices in West Texas, 78-year-old Michael Vernie Owens decided he was officially “over it.”
In a move that is surprisingly efficient for Lubbock—a place where a simple road construction project takes four presidential terms—Mr. Owens didn’t bother with the whole “fleeing the scene” or “hiding the evidence” cliché. Instead, he picked up the phone, called dispatch, and told them he’d just shot and killed someone. Give the man points for honesty; he’s doing the Sheriff’s Office’s job for them before they even finished their shift at the station.
Deputies arrived to find the victim, 37-year-old Michael Joseph Owens, who unfortunately turned out to be the elder Owens’ own son. It’s the kind of “family bonding” that makes you appreciate those awkward, silent Thanksgiving dinners at Furr’s a whole lot more. Vernie stood his ground, handed himself over, and is now enjoying the fine hospitality of the Lubbock County Detention Center.
The Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit has taken over the case, though it’s hard to see what’s left to “investigate” when the perpetrator basically provided his own live-action confession. It’s a tragic, dusty mess that proves once again that in the Hub City, “family time” is always just one bad argument away from a felony charge.
Is it really a Lubbock sunset if it isn’t framed by the flashing blue lights of a self-reported filicide?
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