Week in review: Diner closed; marijuana talk; closed campuses; homicides and more | Local News

Hallmark Restaurant, 4402 E. Central Texas Expressway, closed its doors last week — a shock to many Killeen residents who cited family and childhood memories made at the diner.

Hallmark owner Seoung Lim, who also owns Kogibowl and the newly opened Maru Korean & Japanese Restaurant, said Thursday he made the difficult decision after more than a year of battling the economic impacts of the global pandemic and inflation.

Some called the restaurant’s closure a tragedy, but the future is uncertain.

Noting the community’s love of Hallmark, Lim said he’s now mulling whether to reopen the location as a new restaurant or as an improved version of the diner, with an updated menu, following planned renovations this summer.

Jury finds Killeen man guilty of 2018 murder

A jury deliberated for about three hours Thursday before finding a Killeen man guilty of murder after a trial this week in Bell County’s 27th Judicial District Court.

The defendant, Jason Ricardo Baez, 35, testified on Tuesday but the jury did not buy his self-defense explanation for shooting and killing 32-year-old Lamar Marcell Roberson, with whom he had a two-month sexual relationship.

A first-degree felony is punishable by five to 99 years, or life, in prison.

Baez said he was defending himself and his pregnant fiancee when he shot and killed Roberson.

Baez was booked into jail more than four years ago, on March 2, 2018.

Fort Hood fire crews battling 3 wildfires

Nearly three months after a historic wildfire, Fort Hood is ablaze again; this time fire crews are battling three fires totaling around 400 acres.

As of the last update, around 3:30 p.m. Thursday, the Wildland Management Area fire, which is estimated at 250 acres, was 90% contained, Fort Hood officials announced. Another 80-acre wildfire in the vicinity of Clabber Creek Multi-Use Range was also around 90% contained.

A third fire on the firing ranges near Blackwell Mountain was 60% contained, officials said. That fire was estimated to be 60 acres.

Killeen marijuana discussion set for July

After six months of garnering signatures from registered voters in Killeen, a group of local politicians and activists formally presented their petition to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana at Tuesday’s Killeen City Council meeting.

While the council did not have a full-fledged discussion on the petition, they unanimously signed off on a motion of a direction from Mayor Pro Tem Ken Wilkerson to move further discussion to a July 19 public hearing.

However, before the council said a word on the subject, they heard from several residents, who came to the microphone during Citizens’ Comments to air their views on both sides of the issue.

Judge orders one-week continuance of lawsuit over Killeen election

An ex-Killeen city councilwoman will have to wait longer to have her election lawsuit decided by a judge, who could rule on the matter by the end of the month.

Mellisa Brown—who served on the previous Killeen City Council—filed a civil lawsuit on May 23 against Councilman Ramon Alvarez, who won the seat by 26 votes during the municipal election. As part of her lawsuit, Brown asked the court to impose “temporary restraining order” to prohibit the City of Killeen from installing Alvarez as a councilmember; however, he was sworn in the same day the lawsuit was filed.

During a remote hearing on Friday afternoon in Bell County’s 146th Judicial District Court, a visiting district court judge decided to hold a “trial on the merits” on June 24.

Killeen ISD board closes high school campuses for lunch this fall

All Killeen Independent School District high schools will be closed campuses next year — largely putting an end to students eating lunch off campus — after the school board voted 4-2 in favor of the measure last week.

After a lively hourlong discussion, Killeen ISD board President Brett Williams, and board members Brenda Adams, Marvin Rainwater, and JoAnn Purser voted in favor of the change, with Oliver Mintz and Susan Jones voting in opposition. Board member Cullen Mills was not in attendance.

KISD Superintendent John Craft strongly recommended the school board vote to close the campuses for safety reasons.

The superintendent said the measure has been a topic of discussion for years, emphasizing KISD was unique in its open campus policy.

Police say woman strangled; 12th criminal homicide victim in 2022

A Killeen woman found dead on June 10 at an area hotel died by strangulation, court records show.

Juan Enoc Bamaca Pliego, 36, was found alone in a bolted, darkened room at America’s Best Value Inn, 2709 E. Veterans Memorial Boulevard, with deceased Helena Holmes, 51, on June 10, according to an arrest affidavit obtained last week.

Hotel staff called the Killeen Police Department for a welfare check, according to the affidavit, after a resident in room 127 complained he had heard a scuffle in the room above his and that water was leaking from the above room into his.

Pliego was arraigned on a first-degree murder charge.