Fort Worth strangulation suspect’s charge upgraded to capital murder

The man accused of strangling a 22-year-old woman at her Fort Worth apartment last month now faces an upgraded charge of capital murder, according to jail records.

Reginald Kimbro, 23, was initially arrested last week on a murder charge in the death of Molly Matheson.

The charge was upgraded to capital murder because “enough evidence has been found” to support the accusation that he also sexually assaulted Matheson, said officer Brad Perez, police spokesman.

A charge is upgraded to capital murder when a suspect is accused of a second felony in addition to murder.

Kimbro remained in custody Wednesday at the Mansfield jail, where his bail amount was raised from $500,000 to $1 million.

His arrest warrant affidavit, written last week by Fort Worth police Detective K. Sullivan last week, had accused him of raping Matheson the night she died, though a sexual assault kit had not yet been processed.

Matheson, a Keller Timber Creek High School alum, was found dead in her bathroom April 10. She had been living in a garage apartment behind a home in the 2600 block of Waits Avenue, near TCU.

She and Kimbro had dated in 2014, when she was a student at the University of Arkansas, Kimbro told police. They eventually broke up but stayed in touch.

On April 9, Kimbro said, Matheson invited him to her apartment in the 2600 block of Waits Avenue and he arrived about 10:30 p.m., the affidavit said. The two began to kiss, Kimbro told police, but Matheson declined to have sex and Kimbro said he left about 1:30 a.m.

Cellphone records show that Kimbro texted Matheson at 10:26 p.m. April 9, indicating he had arrived at her apartment. He texted her about four hours later, at 2:59 a.m: “Hey. Thanks again for the advice. Its nice seeing how far you’ve come. Im proud of you brej. Hmu when you get up.”

The second message was never read by Matheson, who was found dead at about 7:20 p.m., the affidavit said. She had a swollen left eye.

“It appeared that Molly had been taken to the shower and placed under the running shower to remove physical evidence,” the affidavit said.

Also found at her apartment was a load of wet laundry: two pairs of women’s underwear, a pair of running shorts, a pillowcase, a pair of men’s underwear, a green fitted sheet, two wash cloths and a bath towel.

In his interview with police, Kimbro said Matheson had been wearing a pair of running shorts the night of April 9. Police believe those shorts were the same ones found in the washing machine.

The laundry “contained evidence of a sexual assault and were placed in the washing machine by Molly’s killer in order to destroy evidence,” the affidavit said.

Prior accusations

Kimbro’s arrest warrant affidavit also detailed two prior rape accusations made against Kimbro by women in Plano in 2012 and South Padre Island in 2014.

In the South Padre Island case, a woman told police that she and Kimbro met at the Isla Grand Beach Resort. They began to kiss and she took him into the women’s restroom, the affidavit said, citing a South Padre Island Police Department report.

The woman told police that Kimbro tried to have sex with her in the bathroom but she told him no. Kimbro choked her and raped her, she told police.

Kimbro was arrested at the scene and his semen was found in the woman, according to the affidavit. Kimbro told police that the sex was consensual. The charge was dismissed by the prosecutor “pending further investigation,” Yvette Vela, spokeswoman for the Cameron County district attorney’s office, said Wednesday.

In the Plano case, a woman told police that she and Kimbro were at his home when he offered her $200 for oral sex. She refused and left the house, according to the affidavit.

Kimbro followed the woman to her car, apologized and asked if she wanted to take a walk at a park, the woman said. The woman agreed and drove Kimbro to a nearby school, where he began choking her and threatened to kill her as he took off her clothes, the affidavit said.

The woman tried to call 911 but Kimbro slammed her head on the ground and raped her, she told police. Kimbro told her to get in the trunk of her car before letting her ride in the passenger seat as he drove her to another school, where he made her take her clothes off again, according to the affidavit.

He then released her and she reported the incident to police, the affidavit said.

A sexual assault kit conducted on the woman revealed Kimbro’s DNA, the affidavit said, but he was not arrested.

Officer David Tilley, Plano police spokesman, said Monday the case is still “an open and active investigation.”

This story was originally published May 3, 2017 at 2:27 PM with the headline "Fort Worth strangulation suspect’s charge upgraded to capital murder."