‘Devil Worshiper’ Charged With Another Murder—Just Months After Release on Bail
After spending four years behind bars awaiting trial for allegedly killing his teenage friend, Edward O’Neal was temporarily granted his freedom when his bond was reduced over the summer.
But just four months after posting bail, Texas authorities say the alleged devil worshipper has killed again—fatally shooting his cousin’s ex-boyfriend before admitting the crime to his mother.
“I told the DA he should not get out. He killed my son, he’ll be killing again,” Christa Roberts, the mother of the 16-year-old whom O’Neal fatally stabbed in 2016, told ABC13. “I’m sorry you had to go through this. Justice is going to be served.”
O’Neal, 23, now faces a second murder charge for killing Derrick Mike on Nov. 28 outside his cousin’s Houston apartment complex when the 39-year-old showed up to retrieve his belongings after the breakup, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. Mike, who was still conscious when a police officer rushed him to the hospital, died the next day.
The 23-year-old, who allegedly told police he killed Mike at his cousin’s request, is now back in custody in Harris County Jail without bail. He faces separate trials for Mike and Ryan Roberts’ murder.
“Our prosecutors told the judge in court that we opposed bond being lowered for this defendant and we twice filed motions asking the judge to set conditions on the defendant's bond if he were to be released pending trial,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement to The Daily Beast. “We also let the judge know the facts of the original murder, to ensure the court was aware of our concerns for public safety.”
In the high-profile 2016 case, O’Neal was charged with fatally stabbing Ryan Roberts, a freshman at Jefferson Davis High School, then dumping his body in a wooded area behind his apartment complex.
Authorities say Ryan’s mother filed a missing persons report in January 2016 after her son didn’t come home from school. Days later, authorities say they learned that O’Neal, then 19, had admitted to a friend that he had murdered Ryan. The teen’s body was eventually found by Texas EquuSearch.
Around the same time as the murder, according to court documents first obtained by the Houston Chronicle, O’Neal had tried to take his own life and was checked into the psychiatric unit at Ben Taub Hospital. In a police interview, O’Neal’s mother revealed that her son also confessed to “stabbing Ryan Roberts to death and carrying his body into some nearby woods.”
O’Neal’s mother also told ABC13 at the time that her son worshiped the devil and that the murder was a “satanic act.” She said he’d killed several family pets in the past.
His father, Edward O’Neal Sr., added to KHOU after his son’s arrest that he has a history of mental illness and was into devil-worshipping.
“Oh I know that he’s worshiping the devil and stuff,” O’Neal said in 2016, while maintaining his son was innocent. “He didn’t tell me nothing. He didn’t say nothing about doing nothing.”
O’Neal also admitted to KPRC 2 during a jailhouse 2016 interview that he worshipped the devil— but insisted he didn’t kill Roberts and that another friend was responsible.
“Why would I kill my best friend who did nothing to me?” he told the outlet.
Over the next four years, O’Neal remained in Harris County Jail on a $50,000 bond awaiting his trial that was still pending due to his mental competency. During his time in jail, O’Neal’s lawyers revealed he had “a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder and has a history of mental health issues.” In his own letter to the court months after his arrest, the 23-year-old stated he was hearing voices and feeling suicidal.
An assessment concluded in 2019 found that O’Neal either had a mental illness or an intellectual disability, the Houston Chronicle reported.
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