Texas lawmakers will take their search for answers following the deadly July 4 floods to the heart of the devastation in Kerr County, where local officials were expected to face questions over their response to the disaster that swept away homes and campers along the Guadalupe River. The hearing on Thursday is the first time a panel of lawmakers is visiting the hard-hit Texas Hill Country since the floods, which killed at least 136 people. Most were in Kerr County, including 27 young campers and counselors at Camp Mystic, an all-girls summer camp. Local leaders who have defended their preparations and response to the fast-rising waters were among those invited to testify. Residents will also have the chance to address lawmakers. The hearing comes as authorities have begun publicly releasing records and audio — including 911 calls — that have provided new glimpses into the escalating danger and chaos in the early hours of the July Fourth holiday. These include panicked and confused messages from residents caught in trees and families fleeing with children from homes with water creeping up to the knees. “People are dying,” one woman tells a 911 operator in call logs released by nearby Kendall County. She says she had…

Attorneys for Robert Roberson have filed two motions in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for an emergency stay of execution and for the court to hear evidence they say proves his innocence. On July 16, Judge Austin Reeve Jackson set an Oct. 16 execution date for Roberson, who is accused in the 2002 death of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis. Roberson’s emergency motion for stay of execution asks that his recently set execution date of Oct. 16 be stayed to ensure the court has sufficient time to complete its review of his pending subsequent application for habeas corpus relief. The second, a motion for oral argument, has never been held before the CCA since his innocence was first raised in 2016. “The emergency motion today is reminding them, kind of pushing them, prodding them, saying, hey, listen guys, we have this proceeding that’s been pending since February,” said appellate lawyer Chad Ruback. Ruback is not associated with Roberson’s case. He said statistically, a conviction in a death penalty case will withstand appellate scrutiny. “They have knocked on a whole heck of a lot of doors, and they’ve had all of those doors slammed in their faces,” he said of…

Over the past four days, three Texas children have died after officials say they were left unattended in hot vehicles. On Tuesday, a 9-year-old girl died after she was left inside a vehicle in the parking lot of an industrial complex in Galena Park outside of Houston. According to KPRC-TV, the NBC affiliate in Houston, the child was left unattended in the hot vehicle by her mother while she went to work for the day and was left with only water and the windows partially rolled down. Houston police said the mother’s shift started at 6 a.m. and officers were called to the parking lot at 2:18 p.m. The victim’s mother was detained at the scene, according to KPRC. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Tuesday it is unclear whether access to childcare played a role in the incident. “This obviously wasn’t safe … there’s never an excuse, whether you’re running inside a store or don’t have a sitter in place,“ Gonzalez said. Harris County Sheriff’s Office homicide detectives said this is an active investigation and will await the autopsy results on the child before any charges are filed. “This case appears unique. Most of the time, cases like…