Stephen Broderick indicted for capital murder in April deaths

AUSTIN, Texas - A Travis County grand jury has indicted a former Travis County Sheriff's Office detective with capital murder in the deaths of his estranged wife, her daughter, and her daughter's boyfriend.

The Travis County DA's office says it presented evidence to support capital murder for the deaths of Amanda Broderick, Alyssa Broderick, and Willie Simmons III to the grand jury following Stephen Broderick’s arrest in April.

Authorities say they have taken 41-year-old Stephen Broderick into custody. Manor Police Department Chief Ryan Phipps says they arrested Broderick just before 8 a.m. this morning.

Broderick will be held without bail and his charge will be prosecuted by the Office’s Trial Division. The case is pending in the 299th Judicial District Court. Broderick has been held in the Travis County Jail without bail since his arrest in April. 

"Our office is committed to doing everything we can to hold Mr. Broderick accountable and ensure that he causes no more harm to our community," said Travis County DA José Garza. "My heart continues to break for the victims of this senseless act of violence, their families, and for the anguish of our community." 

WHAT HAPPENED IN APRIL?

Austin police say homicide victim Amanda Broderick, 35, was preparing for a custody exchange with her estranged husband, Stephen Broderick, 41, near The Arboretum. 

The couple used a third-party visitation facilitator to avoid contact with one another and to oversee Stephen Broderick's visits with his son. 

The visitation facilitator told police Amanda Broderick was set to pull into a parking lot at 9600 Great Hills Trail at 11:45 a.m. and release the boy to her. Then the visitation facilitator planned to take the boy inside. At noon Stephen Broderick was scheduled to arrive for a supervised visit with the child. 

The facilitator told police when she pulled into the parking lot, she saw Amanda Broderick and her daughter Alyssa Broderick, 17, on the ground deceased. Alyssa Broderick’s 18-year-old boyfriend Willie Simmons III was dying. She told police she saw Stephen Broderick walking away. 

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The couple’s young son was not at the scene when the visitation facilitator arrived. A woman told police she was driving on Great Hills Trail when the child flagged her down, asked her to call 9-1-1, and got into her car. She dialed 9-1-1 and drove away with the boy. 

"The boy told her that his father wrecked his car into the one that he was in and the other people in the car were not able to get out. He also said that his father was mad about the divorce with his mother." an Austin police detective wrote in Stephen Broderick’s capital murder arrest affidavit, adding "[The woman] advised that the boy told her he saw his father shoot his sister’s boyfriend…" 

The detective wrote that Willie Simmons III and Amanda and Alyssa Broderick had each been shot several times. Just two days after the attack, the couple's young son and the rampage’s sole survivor turned 10 years old. 

Amanda Broderick filed for divorce on July 7, 2020.

On June 3, 2020, Stephen Broderick was accused of sexually assaulting Alyssa Broderick, his then 16-year-old adopted daughter, in Elgin. Amanda Broderick immediately took her to Dell Children’s hospital for a Sexual Assault Forensic Exam (SAFE). During the exam, medical professionals found evidence of trauma.

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Court documents indicate Broderick began sexually and physically abusing the teenager in March 2020. In November 2020, Stephen Broderick was indicted on 12 counts of physical and sexual abuse. 

Stephen Broderick spent less than a month in the Travis County Jail. He posted bond, which was originally set at $50,000, and was released from jail in early July. He was ordered to have no contact with Alyssa Broderick, surrender his firearms, obtain no new firearms, and wear a GPS tracker. Five months later that tracker was removed. 

Amanda Broderick said Stephen Broderick began sending her sexually explicit images. His bond was eventually raised to $75,000 and he was ordered not to contact her as well.

In August 2020 Amanda Broderick and Alyssa Broderick obtained a ‘protective order,’ expressing fear for Stephen Broderick, who was a former Travis County Sheriff’s Office detective. 

However, Amanda Broderick’s divorce attorney Peter Lopez said Amanda Broderick felt it was important visitations with the couple's biological son continue. "[Amanda Broderick] still wanted the relationship between the youngest and his father," Lopez explained. 

The Austin City Council then approved a resolution authored by Councilmember Alison Alter calling for state and federal authorities to take all actions necessary to immediately address gun violence. The shooting had occurred in Alter's district in Northwest Austin.

The resolution, co-sponsored by Austin Mayor Steve Adler and council members Greg Casar, Paige Ellis, Ann Kitchen, Leslie Pool, and Kathie Tovo, also directs the city manager to accelerate local efforts to combat gun violence.