This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Solomon, Young, Contreras Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/hkB.2ACE/8473 Message Board Post: Cameron Herald, Thur., 10 Mar 2005 "Second Minerva victim dies - Hearne man to face capital murder charges" by MIKE PECK, Managing Editor A Minerva man has died from injuries sustained in a Feb. 1 attack that left his stepdaughter dead and his wife seriously injured and the attacker will likely face a new charge of capital murder, local authorities say. Hospitalized since suffering massive head injuries from an attack with a three-pound hammer, Preston "Pete" Durell Solomon, 59, of Minerva died at 2:10 a.m. Wednesday at Scott & White Hospital in Temple. Bell County Precinct 3 Judge David Barfield notified officials with the Milam County Sheriffs office of the death early Wednesday. Authorities said Solomon's body would be sent to the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Science at Dallas for an autopsy. Meanwhile, the attacker, Ben Contreras, 41, of Hearne will likely face a capital murder charge, a first-degree felony, stemming from a case that, with Solomon's death, has become a double homicide. Section 12.31 of the Texas Penal Code sets punishment in a capital murder case at life in prison, or at the state's discretion - the death penalty. District Attorney Kerry Spears, who is reviewing the case, said Wednesday that she has not yet made a determination on whether the state will seek the death penalty. Contreras was previously charged with murder in the death of Stephanie Young and for the attempted murder of Solomon and his wife, Marian Gail Solomon, all of Minerva. A murder charge carries a sentence of five to 99 years or life in prison. Authorities have described Contreras as the estranged boyfriend of Stephanie Young. The series of incidents on Feb. 1 began when county authorities received a call about a man (later identified as Solomon) who appeared to have been struck by an auto, lying alongside County Loop No. 232 near Minerva. While authorities were answering that call, a second call from the Minerva area indicated that a woman (Gail Solomon) had been shot and another woman (Stephanie Young) and her children were possibly being held inside a mobile home. The series of events led to an hour-long standoff between authorities and Contreras, at a mobile home owned by the Solomons. Milam County Sheriff Charles West, with the help of Contreras' parents, managed to talk Contreras into giving up. Stephanie Young's nude body was found inside a bedroom of the residence. She had been bludgeoned and stabbed to death. Her children had been locked in a bathroom and emerged from the home uninjured. Sheriffs Department officials later learned that Solomon was driving Contreras to either Hearne or Cameron to pick up money from one of Solomon's relatives. Authorities said it was during that drive that Contreras attacked Solomon, left him alongside the road and drove Solomon's car back to the Solomon residence. Once there, Contreras confronted Gail Solomon and Young. Gail Solomon sustained gunshot wounds to the arm and chest, but managed to escape. She drove herself to a relative's nearby home and called authorities. Following his arrest, Contreras gave a verbal confession to all of the offenses. Authorities said Contreras, an unemployed carpenter, had a relationship with Young that ended about a month before the incident. After the break-up, Contreras had been living with Young's uncle in Minerva and making regular visits to the Preston Solomon residence. Authorities believe the violence might have been sparked by a disagreement between Contreras and Young on the day of the attack.