CIBOLO, Texas – Two homeowners in Cibolo are sounding the alarm on a pair of nightmare tenants who they say left behind biohazardous areas in their wake.
KSAT Investigates uncovered dozens of calls to police with allegations of child and animal abuse.
Meanwhile, the couple behind it all says the landlords are causing the issues.
Will Sherman’s home
“They’re no longer allowed to enter the premises after the date that’s posted on there,” landlord Will Sherman told KSAT while showing the writ of possession on his door.
After dealing with what he calls nightmare renters for months, Sherman has control of his home again.
Sherman gave us a tour of his home, and a putrid smell immediately greeted you at the door.
“The smell of death just hit me right in the face. Walking through the home was horrifying, seeing everything at that point,” Sherman said.
Outside in the driveway sat a dumpster filled past the top with garbage, clothing, and other items left behind in the home when the renters left. Sherman said this is one of four that have been filed with what was abandoned inside.
Inside the home, roaches were crawling on the walls, dead insects were scattered on the floor, and cabinets and the refrigerator were destroyed in the kitchen.
The home’s first floor had water pooling and smelled of urine and feces.
“When we turned the water on, the water started gushing into the home. It filled everything. We’ve kind of cleaned it out a little bit. It actually smells better than what it used to,” Sherman said.
The bathroom had a toilet that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in months, and what appeared to be feces was smeared on the walls.
When we made our way to the carpeted stairs, more feces were caked into the carpets, and we found several needles on the ground.
Sherman said they’ve had cleaning crews coming into the home since he got the couple he was renting to out.
That couple, Brandon and Kyle Garrett, also had children and dogs living in the home.
“There were five kids living in this. To know that they had all of these dogs that were just left here in the heat of the summer with no air conditioning, no power or anything, just left here to fend for themselves, is just — it’s heartbreaking,” Sherman said.
He took us into one bedroom, where it was clear an animal had torn up the carpet near the door.
In another bedroom with red and white walls, Sherman said his cleaning crew found the bodies of two dogs, as well as the leg of a third lying in a pile of children’s clothes.
“They came in here, and they were already decomposing. So it wasn’t like they had been there for a few days. They actually had to pick them up by the clothes that they were in, at least for one of them,” he said.
Cibolo Animal Services is still investigating after the bodies of the dogs were found inside Sherman’s home to determine if any criminal charges will be filed.
As we were in that upstairs bedroom, Sherman became emotional, explaining that it was the room his son grew up in, and the colors on the wall were for his favorite baseball team.
“Seeing the condition of that home, knowing that their kids were in there and knowing that that’s where those dogs were is just — it’s heartbreaking to me,” Sherman said.
He rented the home to the Garretts for three years between 2020 and 2023.
During that time, Cibolo police were called 24 times for everything from Child Protective Services complaints, cruelty to animals, and assault calls.
Sherman said rent was getting paid later and later until he reached a breaking point this summer and decided to file for eviction.
“Their response was, ‘Do what you need to do. It takes 30 days to file for eviction. We’ll be out by the end of July,’” Sherman said.
According to court documents, the eviction petition was filed on Aug. 2, 2023. A hearing was set for Sept. 12, 2023. However, Sherman was granted a default judgment because Kyle and Brandon did not attend the hearing.
Court records refer to Kyle Garrett as Kayla Garrett. Kyle identifies as a man and uses the he/him pronouns, though court records still use the name he was given at birth.
Sherman said he drove past the home several times in August and did not see anyone inside or lights turned on, so he changed the locks.
That’s when Brandon Garrett shattered the back sliding glass door, a fact he admitted to himself in our interview.
“My dogs have been in there for a week. No food. You know, I don’t see any sign of anybody coming in, so I broke the sliding glass door down,” Brandon said.
He explained that his husband, Kyle, and his children moved out earlier this summer because Kyle was having health issues, and they needed to live closer to a hospital.
In his version of events, Brandon said he was slowly moving their belongings out and had their trash bagged up. When asked about the dogs being left in the home, Brandon said he was still taking care of them but was also looking for new homes for them.
KSAT Investigates reporter Leigh Waldman showed Brandon photos of the mess left behind in his former home and asked, “This happened in a week?”
“It wasn’t like that when I left,” Brandon said.
Brandon promised to send pictures of how he allegedly left the home, but those still have not come.
However, this isn’t the first time the couple has been accused of trashing a rental home in the Cibolo area.
Michael Singleton’s home
“Walked in the house and immediately got sick because they had destroyed the entire house,” said Michael Singleton, another landlord who rented to the Garretts in the Cibolo area.
He rented to the Garretts from 2013 to 2017.
Singleton said he had no problem with the couple or their children for the first two years. In 2015, Singleton approached Brandon and Kyle about selling the home to them.
He said the Garretts liked the idea but wanted more time to get their credit up.
Over the next two years, Singleton said he kept asking Brandon and Kyle about buying the property. However, they never got their credit in order. Eventually, the couple started paying their rent later and later and then stopped paying altogether.
Singleton said he filed for eviction so he could sell the home.
“Replaced the floors all the way throughout the house with just some pipes and wood tile or linoleum tile. We had to change out the countertop. We had to change out to sink. We had to change out all of the fans in the house because they were all infested with bugs,” Singleton said.
In 2018, Singleton went to court to try to accrue the $25,000 needed to fix the damage left behind.
“I only went to small claims court with them and got $10,000 awarded,” Singleton said.
Brandon had an explanation for what happened with Singleton as well.
“Everything was going great with him until Kyle came out as transgender,” Brandon said.
Singleton said that had nothing to do with his frustration.
Brandon said their issues as renters started when they moved to Cibolo, and he intends to pay the money he owes Singleton.
As for Sherman, he’s still trying to get his home back in livable condition. Once he gets to that point, he’ll also be pursuing legal action.
“I am going to pursue every avenue that I have,” Sherman said.
UPDATE: Dec. 19, 2023
After this story aired, Brandon Garrett contacted KSAT reporter Leigh Waldman claiming he lied about the condition in which the home was left and how the dogs died. We’ve included part of his statement below.
“Will Sherman did not ruin his own house,” Garrett wrote. “He didn’t kill the puppies. We had so many puppies I couldn’t use any money to take to the vet. I think the ones that died did so due to Parvo.”
Garrett indicated that he plans to pay his former landlords for damage to their homes.
“I already told Will to send me the total I owe him when he knows it. I also need the real number from Michael Singleton, not just the small claims settlement but the full amount. The house on Sioux Ln wasn’t exactly in the best of shape before the roof collapsed due to the leak they wouldn’t fix properly so we were told to get out. But I’m willing to add the cleaning fees to what’s owed. Michael Singleton, to my knowledge, doesn’t give a damn whether someone is transgender or not,” Garrett wrote.