Husband shocked after teens charged with murder of wife who was delivering Uber Eats
As soon as his wife’s phone went straight to voicemail, Cameron Graham knew something was wrong.
Ryan Graham was delivering food for Uber Eats late into the evening Saturday night. She was trying to hit 20 deliveries for the day to earn a $60 bonus. At 7:40 p.m., Ryan told her husband she had seven calls left and would be home by 9:30 p.m.
When she wasn’t back in their Fort Worth apartment by 10 p.m., Cameron got worried. He called over and over, but could not get through. At midnight, his father-in-law’s number showed up on his phone.
“I knew something bad had happened,” he said. “I hoped to hear her voice on the phone saying her phone had died. But instead I heard tears, and the heart-wrenching news that my wife was deceased.”
Ryan, 31, was found in the breezeway of an apartment complex at 4200 Northern Cross in Haltom City. She had been stabbed in the neck and died before she could be taken to the hospital, Haltom City police said.
Cameron did not think the tragedy could get worse, until Haltom City police announced Thursday who they had arrested in Ryan’s killing. Two 14-year-olds are accused of stabbing Ryan to death in what started as a robbery.
The motive of the boys, whose identities weren’t released because they’re juveniles, was apparently to steal Ryan’s car, but they couldn’t find her keys, according to authorities.
Cameron said the boys stabbed his wife in the neck multiple times and stole her iPhone 7. They threw the phone into a dumpster, still covered in blood, a block or so away, he said.
The two suspects appeared separately in Tarrant County Juvenile Court on Thursday morning for virtual detention hearings, where officials said a confidential informant told law enforcement of their involvement and that one of them was planning to leave town. They are charged with delinquent conduct/capital murder.
Cameron is torn between wanting justice for his wife and feeling sympathy for the teens’ families. If the boys are charged as minors, they could be released when they’re 18 years old.
“Four years is not long enough to rehabilitate them,” he said. “I don’t wish death or pain on my worst enemy, but I want justice. But I also have to think about how their family feels.”
Ryan’s own family has been torn apart by her sudden death. Her three children — two girls and a 5-year-old boy — are still coming to terms with the news. The 5-year-old is too young to understand, and does not realize yet that his mother’s absence is not short-term, Cameron said.
“There is not a second that goes by where I don’t wish I could trade my life for her 1,000 times over,” he said. “It’s not fair for our children to not have a mother anymore. It’s unbearable.”
Ryan was the light of the family and worked multiple jobs to help them, Cameron said. The two met about eight years ago when they worked at Wendy’s together. Ryan’s friend Bailey Ables worked with them and was the first to say the two would make a good couple. Ables described Ryan as full of laughter and jokes. The two would sneak into the freezer sometimes to talk and avoid work.
Cameron pursued Ryan for months, but she did not want to rush into things. She had recently lost custody of her two daughters. Cameron had also lost children in a CPS case. After six months, she told him she wanted to be with him, and since then “we have never left each other’s side.” In 2017, Ables ordained Ryan and Cameron’s wedding.
“We realized maybe we need to better our lives,” Cameron said. “And we started working nonstop.”
The couple worked double and triple shifts, sharing one car and sometimes only seeing one another when they went to sleep at night. They moved to a better apartment and had a son together in 2015.
Ryan started working with elderly people in a hospital. On the side, she taught a couponing class to help people save money, started a business customizing tumblers and cups for people and — because she still wanted to make extra money — delivered food for Uber Eats.
Since his wife’s death, Cameron said he wakes up every morning and “I just bawl because my wife is not next to me.”
“Ryan changed me from being a nobody into something great,” he said. “She did that for everybody to show that even in your darkest hours, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. I can’t even explain it. I’ll never be the same again.”
Ables started a GoFundMe for the family that, as of Thursday, had reached nearly $50,000.
Uber also has been in touch with the family to offer assistance. Ryan had been driving for the company since October 2019.
“We are deeply saddened by this horrible crime and our hearts are with Ryan’s family and loved ones,” an Uber spokesperson said. “We are grateful the suspects have been arrested and thank the Haltom City Police Department for their quick investigation.”
On Thursday, Cameron and Ryan’s parents picked out the clothes she would be buried in and chose two funeral plots at Bear Creek Cemetery — one for Ryan and the other, someday, for Cameron.
“She’s a loving mother, wife, daughter and she will be sorely missed,” Cameron said. “The world got a little darker on January 23.”
This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 2:30 PM.
