Family Injustice: Deadbeat Dad
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The frustration is building in Georgetown for the young mother and her two small children who could soon be thrown out of their home. Now meet the guy who’s to blame.
You can see how happy Amanda Murray was as a young bride. Before long Amanda and her new husband Matt McCarty had a bun in the oven. Before you knew it, they had been hitched for seven years, two cute little kids.
A happy family then but not anymore. Nowadays a text message may be also worth a thousand words.
“F—k you go to hell bitch. You are a miserable f—king person,” said Matt McCarty in text messages to his wife.
Those clearly aren’t love notes from Matt McCarty to Amanda. They were now spending their time in divorce court and that often gets ugly.
“I f—king hate your guts… you worthless waste of a human being,” McCarty said.
Matt had a lawyer named Brooke Ward who apparently got to know her client, well shall we say intimately.
“You left something here. I washed,” Ward wrote. What was it? His underwear.
“There’s always a danger in any lawyer getting too close to their client,” said Houston attorney John LaGrappe.
Maybe it’s a new kind of attorney-client privilege.
“A lot of people have a low view of attorneys and that kind of behavior just kind of reinforces it,” LaGrappe said.
“I don’t understand how that can even be ethical. There’s no lines that these people will not cross,” said Amanda Murray.
We saw Matt McCarty after our investigation of family injustice in Williamson County began. He’s refused to talk to us, but we weren’t just interested in the underwear story. We wanted to know why Matt McCarty broke his promise to his kids.
In April of 2019 Family Court Judge Betsy Lambeth issued the final divorce decree. McCarty agreed to pay the $2,400 a month mortgage on the family home in Georgetown where his kids live until the house was sold.
“She was getting more money on the house because of all the money he owed her,” LaGrappe said.
McCarty isn’t just behind on the mortgage payments. he hasn’t paid one single dime. Amanda has now learned the house is in foreclosure.
“In April, her and her children are going to be out on the streets if something’s not done to remedy it,” LaGrappe said.
Wonder if McCarty knows he may be in bigger trouble than just an award for a deadbeat dad.
McCarty hasn’t lived here since 2018, but three months after the divorce was finalized, he took out a new mortgage in his name only. And look what he says. He is an occupant of the house. But he’s not. Making a false statement on a mortgage application is a crime.
Did I mention Mr. McCarty is also behind more than $3,000 in child support for those little kids in that great family picture.
“They are hurting the children. They are going through the children to hurt us. There is no best interest of the children in Williamson County,” Amanda Murray said.
“I don’t want any other children or grandchildren to have to deal with the crap, and that’s all I can say,” said Sherry Murray, Amanda’s mother.
Amanda’s mom has had enough. Sherry Murray is on a mission to end family injustice at the Georgetown courthouse. Her cry for help has reached tens of thousands in Williamson County alone.
“Why do I do it? Because I love my children and my grandchildren, and they’re being hurt,” Sherry Murray said.
And not just for Amanda and her kids. Amanda’s younger sister Amber has gone through an ugly divorce too.
“I will never stop fighting for what’s right in Williamson County, and what they’re doing in Williamson County is wrong,” said Amber Weisbrod.
Amber’s ex-husband Bobby Weisbrod remarried six months later and into a politically powerful family.
“Hey, I have a lot of money and I’ll use it f—king your world up,” said Haley Weisbrod to Amber Weisbrod.
His new wife Haley does have money. Her daddy is the former mayor, Tim Kennedy. And he apparently thinks money buys family justice too.
“Get you a bunch of money together because we do have that on our side,” said Tim Kennedy in a voicemail to Amber Weisbrod.
“Money can’t buy you class, money can’t buy you dignity, money can’t buy you self-respect,” LaGrappe said.
Judge Doug Arnold handled Amber’s fight over educational rights. He didn’t disclose his kids went to the very school where the new wife worked, that his family made donations there too. Arnold was recused, but he made more bad rulings against Amber after she exposed his conflict.
“You think that’s just plain wrong,” said Wayne Dolcefino, President of Dolcefino Consulting.
“Absolutely,” LaGrappe said.
Amber’s fought for years with Meridian Charter School. Stepmom Haley is a teacher there. But she’s more than once claimed to be the kid’s mom. That’s a recipe for a real family feud.
“To have the stepmother come in and try to act like the mother, any human being with common sense realizes that that’s wrong,” LaGrappe said.
The Children’s Advocacy Center in Williamson County is where parents take their kids when they suspect abuse.
“I took my son, for over a month there we were going once or twice a week. In fact he was almost graduated through the program,” Weisbrod said.
Suddenly the Advocacy Center told Amber they couldn’t see her son anymore. Amber learned Tim Kennedy was on the Board of Directors. So was Laurie Nowlin. Nowlin is her ex-husband’s lawyer.
“Money and power can corrupt someone else’s world and they’ve proven that, Weisbrod said.
“I have begged and pleaded for help for my family because of the turmoil that they’re going through,” said Tommy Murray, Amber and Amanda’s father.
Two daughters, two stories of family injustice.
“It doesn’t matter in Williamson County. It’s who you know,” Weisbrod said.
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