Colleyville murder victim identified as Alvarado woman

The woman found dead in a Colleyville home Tuesday has been identified as Anita Fox, 72, of Alvarado, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner’s website.

Her death was ruled a homicide, the first in Colleyville in 23 years.

Fox’s body, bearing signs of trauma, was found in a home on Frontier Court.

Police Chief Michael Holder said police believe the victim is an employee of the homeowners, who were not at the home when police arrived and who are now staying with friends. He would not elaborate on the trauma involved.

A news conference is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. Wednesday.

Holder said Tuesday that police have no suspects and that the investigation hasn’t gone far enough to say whether there was any sign of a break-in.

Police first got the EMS/fire call from another employee at 11:26 a.m. Tuesday.

Holder said police will continue to canvass the community through the evening.

The home is in a tree-filled older neighborhood in northwest Colleyville, near the borders of Keller and Southlake. Records show it was built in 1984.

Holder said the city called in the Texas Rangers and FBI for assistance.

Neighbor Brandi Rowntree was out walking with her three children in the early afternoon and was shocked at the news.

“Colleyville is so safe,” she said. “It’s one of the reasons we chose to live here.”

She added that she is not worried.

“I’m more concerned with the creek flooding behind my house than the murder,” she said.

The last slaying in Colleyville was in April 1991, when Darwin Jaster was found stabbed to death in his home. His ex-wife, Babette Jaster, pleaded guilty to the killing and received 10 years of probation.

Fred Thomas Martin, who had worked with Babette Jaster as a security guard and was also indicted, was killed in a car wreck two months before his trial was scheduled to begin.

There was also a murder in June 1990, when Tommy Joe Day, 52, was found shot to death in his home on Jim Mitchell Trail. His stepdaughter, Merry Day Freeze, and Demarquis Walls III, both of Carrollton, pleaded guilty and received 28-year prison sentences.

The 1984 murder of Judy Herron in Tara Plantation remains unsolved.

Remains of a body were found buried in a septic tank in a Colleyville back yard in 2004, but they turned out to be those of a man killed in Fort Worth in 1996.

This report includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.

This story was originally published September 23, 2014 at 3:49 PM with the headline "Colleyville murder victim identified as Alvarado woman."