On Sunday, Easter Celebrations ended with prayers of desperation in Kaufman County.
"This was his office, this was his place of employment," said Donald Kile, whose River Life Church of Kemp held a prayer vigil outside the courthouse Sunday night. "This is the place that we're supposed to come and we're supposed to say 'okay, Lord, we're putting it in your hands'."
There will be heavy security at the Kaufman County courthouse on Monday. And while members of the District Attorney's staff will be there, the office will be closed to the public.
On Saturday night, Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, his wife Cynthia were found shot to death in their home in Forney. McLelland was reportedly shot multiple times near the entrance, his wife shot in a living area.
Sources told NBCDFW that the couple was killed with an assault weapon.
"It's unnerving and it's unnerving to the law enforcement community," said Kaufman County Sheriff David Byrnes. "It's unnerving to the community at large and that's why we're striving to assure the community that we are still providing public safety. And we'll continue to do that. We're meeting all of our obligations plus the investigative responsibilities."
Those responsibilities include the murder of Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, gunned down January 31 outside the courthouse on his way to work.
When asked directly if the murders of Hasse and McLelland were related, Sheriff Byrnes answered "I can't say that no we have nothing indicating that for sure, no."
Local, state and federal authorities have taken over the sheriff's department's training building, now the command center for murder investigations.
The staff of the District Attorney's office and other elected officials are being guarded.
For the time being, you won't just see security around the courthouse, you'll feel it.
"There will be increase security at the courthouse tomorrow.. visible security," said Sheriff Byrnes.
