Megachurch shooter’s mother-in-law says shooting had ‘nothing to do with Judaism’
An AR-15-style rifle displayed at a 2022 National Rifle Association meeting in Houston. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
By Beth Harpaz February 13, 2024
The ex-mother-in-law of a woman who opened fire in a Texas megachurch says the shooting had “nothing to do with Judaism.”
“Although my former daughter-in-law raged against Israel and Jews in a pro-Palestinian rant yesterday this has nothing to do with Judaism or Islam,” Walli Carranza wrote on Facebook.
Carranza, who identifies herself as a rabbi, said that her former daughter-in-law, Genesse Moreno, was schizophrenic and that the incident was “completely preventable.”
Carranza did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Forward.
Carranza criticized Texas laws that allowed Moreno to buy a gun despite her diagnosis. Carranza also criticized child protection agencies that did not remove Moreno’s son, Samuel, from Moreno’s care. The 7-year-old boy, who is Carranza’s grandson, was shot in the head and critically wounded during the Sunday shooting.
Palestine sticker on gun
Moreno was killed after opening fire Sunday with an AR-15 in Pastor Joel Osteen’s massive Lakewood Church in Houston. Moreno died when off-duty police officers working security in the church fired back, but it wasn’t immediately clear whose bullets hit Samuel.
Moreno’s gun bore a “Palestine” sticker, and investigators also found antisemitic comments in things she had written, according to Chris Hassig, commander of Houston’s homicide unit. Hassig said Moreno was involved in a dispute with her ex-husband’s family, and that some of those relatives are Jewish. Hassig also said Moreno had a documented history of mental illness.
Carranza said on Facebook that she didn’t blame police for carrying out their “rightful duty to save lives even if they are found responsible for shooting my grandson.”
“The fault lies in child protective services,” she continued, “that refused to remove custody from a woman with known mental illness that was not being treated and with the state of Texas for not having strong red flag laws that would have prevented her from owning or possessing a gun.”
Carranza also asked for prayers for her grandson, saying he was “clinging to life” at Texas Children’s Hospital. She said she had flown there from Mexico to be with him, and that her son, Quito, who is the boy’s father and Moreno’s ex-husband, was flying in from Florida.
Prayer for a grandson
Carranza asked for privacy for her family, but “at the same time, we ask that this be a wake-up call. My daughter-in-law when she was taking medication for schizophrenia was a very sweet and loving woman.” But “when family members seek emergency protections they’re not doing so for their own sake but for the sake of the person who is ill. And to protect her child and society.”
Moreno’s motivation for opening fire in the church was not clear. She had prior arrests for lesser charges including marijuana possession, forgery, unlawful carrying of a weapon, evading arrest and assaulting a public official, and had used various aliases, including a man’s name, Jeffrey Escalante.
A bystander who was also hit in the church shooting has been released from the hospital.
Carranza’s connection to Judaism
Carranza describes herself as rabbi who was ordained by the Jewish Spiritual Leaders Institute, which offers online “transdenominational” rabbinical training in the Jewish Universalist tradition. She said she serves a congregation in France for Jews of various denominations.
Carranza ended her post by saying: “May HaShem bless the hands of those who hold our child and bring him healing just as G.d did when he was born at just 23 weeks.” She also included the traditional Jewish invocation for the dead, asking that Moreno’s memory “be for a blessing.”
“In her death,” she added, “may we find a way to keep others from dying.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify and specify Carranza’s rabbinic training and affiliation.
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