2014-10-13

Family expresses pain, rage at death of Holly Combs

Excerpt

On Friday night the family of 24-year-old Holly Combs received the call that no parent wants to answer.

Holly Combs was 24

William Chet Stewart, 35 (Source: NewsChannel 10)

AMARILLO, TX (KCBD) - On Friday night the family of 24-year-old Holly Combs received the call that no parent wants to answer. Investigators said that Holly had been stabbed at the Route 66 Saloon in Amarillo.

"When they first called me I thought, I'm going to drive to Amarillo, we're going to sew her up, and I'll bring her back home and that was my first thought," said Holly's dad, Chip Combs. "But when I got there it was pretty obvious, it was bad."

Officials said her husband, 35-year-old William Stewart, stabbed Holly in the neck when an argument between the two became violent. Officials say Stewart left the bar but later turned himself in to police.

"It's indescribable how furious you can become at something like that, to know that another man has taken someone you cared about and you've grown up with - taking their life into his own hands. He made the decision to end her life. You can't put words onto the amount of pain and rage you feel," said Holly's older brother Gene Combs, one of Holly's three brothers.

"We've, all three of us, all have been very protective of her since she was a baby, and to think that at the one moment when she needed me to protect her or any of us to protect her and we weren't there, it's a hard thing to live with."

Holly's stepmother Alice said they weren't surprised when officials told them what Steward had done. She said that he had hit Holly in the past and her dad said something didn't seem right when they first met him.

"He was kind of standoffish from us at first, said he was just nervous around us, but you could kind of tell something wasn't right," he said.

"She started acting differently, she wasn't herself," Alice said.

Holly's parents said that she was the life of any party she was a part of and her favorite moments were hanging out with friends and family.

"You had to laugh when she laughed, you couldn't help it. She had the most beautiful blue eyes that would just pierce right through you. She had a heart of gold," Alice said.

Alice and Chip say they will now do everything they can to help women in abusive situations so that what happened to Holly doesn't happen again.

"We're going to do everything we can to get more awareness for domestic violence. Through her death we are going to find some way. If we can save one woman's life by her death we'll have done something," Chip said.

The service for Holly will be held at Lake Ridge Chapel and Memorial Designers Thursday at 2 p.m.

Holly's biological mother Kim Hesse says another Memorial for Holly will be held at West Hills Park in Amarillo Sunday at 2 p.m.

Donations to the "Holly Combs Memorial Fund" can be made at Platinum Bank on the South Loop and Slide.