3 people charged in plot to kill a mom and a judge

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas (KEYE) - Authorities in Texas have arrested three people accused of plotting to kill a mother and a judge.

Prosecutors say it was a child custody case that turned violent and a tracking device on a car helped lead to the arrests.

"You can't make that stuff up," Williamson County Sheriff Mike Gleason said.

Almost 200 days after a teenager called 911 to report an intruder had shot his mother and her boyfriend in Liberty Hill, Texas, Gleason said the case is solved.

In March, the mother was shot 11 times and the boyfriend was shot twice.

"It was clear that this was not a random attack," Gleason said.

That is what neighbors thought at the time, too.

"Our main concern was the safety of the people involved," one neighbor said.

The woman told police the only person who could have done it was her ex-husband, 38-year-old Clinton Harmon and that they were in a dispute over child custody.

"I was surprised when I heard that they had arrested someone," a neighbor said.

Last July, detectives got a call from Harmon's ex-girlfriend in Louisiana who said that the shooting was planned.

"She recalled a family meeting in Bastrop county in July of 2023 where Harmon, his mother, Teresa and his adopted father Matt, discuss ways to murder the victim as well as the judge presiding over the custody case," Gleason said.

That is when law enforcement began 24/7 protection for the judge and his family as well as the victims.

At the time of the shooting, however, Liberty Hill Police said the shooting appeared to be an isolated incident.

Detectives later discovered that the lender had a lien on Harmon's SUV had put a tracker on the vehicle when Harmon bought it.

"A subpoena for the vehicle location on the day of attempted murder confirmed that the vehicle was just 0.4 miles away from the crime scene," Gleason said.

Harmon was arrested at the New Orleans Airport on Sept. 8 for attempted capital murder. On Sept. 16, U.S. Marshals arrested Matt and Teresa Harmon.

Gleason said they always knew that the attack was personal.

"When you shoot somebody that many times, it tells that that's up close and personal, that's vindictiveness," he said.

There is no word on when Harmon will be extradited to Williamson County, but his bond is set at $2 million. Matt and Teresa Harmon each have a $1 million bond for offensive retaliation and threatening a judge.