Niece killed man who said ‘she needed to start cooking’: Fort Worth police say
Ashley Siebenaller was upset, the 32-year-old told two homicide detectives, because her uncle, with whom she lived in a small house off of a highway in Fort Worth, locked her out after she returned from a doctor’s office.
Siebenaller said she was annoyed with Tony Graham, who told her she needed to start cooking.
In their living room on the day after Christmas, Siebenaller thrust a knife into Graham’s chest, police allege.
Graham, who was 64, died of the single stab wound at the house in the 3400 block of Wade Avenue. Officers who responded to a 911 caller’s report that Graham may have stabbed himself carried the man out to the front yard to try to save him.
On the day of the killing, Fort Worth Police Department Homicide Unit Detective Jerry Cedillo tried to speak with Siebenaller, but she was not communicating clearly, and it was thought that she was non-verbal.
In writing, Siebenaller indicated to Cedillo that she did not know what happened to Graham and denied stabbing him.
Several people rented space at the house. Graham slept in the living room with his niece. Two other people lived in the rear shed.
Detective Cedillo communicated, also in writing, with a resident of the house who indicated that she noticed Siebenaller and Graham arguing as the resident went to take a shower, according to the affidavit supporting Siebenaller’s arrest on suspicion of murder.
Once she returned to the living room, the resident found Graham stabbed, on the floor.
The resident indicated that Siebenaller was sitting on a couch and not saying anything. The resident wrote that she found a bloody knife on the couch when she sat and placed it on a table.
On Dec. 30, Cedillo and Detective Jeremy Balders returned to the Wade Avenue house and met with Siebenaller.
“Ashley appeared to be able to communicate much more clearly than before,” Cedillo wrote in the affidavit.
Initially Siebenaller denied involvement, but later admitted to stabbing Graham, Cedillo wrote in the affidavit.
Siebenaller said Graham stabbed her first, in the mouth. Cedillo did not notice injuries to Siebenaller on the day of the killing or during the second interview, the detective wrote in the affidavit.
Siebenaller described stabbing Graham near the couch and said that he fell near the doorway, locations which Cedillo wrote in the affidavit are consistent with the crime scene.
Police on Sunday booked Siebenaller at the Fort Worth police detention facility. She was transferred Monday to the Tarrant County Jail. Bond has not been set.
This story was originally published January 5, 2026 at 12:48 PM.
