Fort Worth man is suspect in killing of University of Mississippi student
A 22-year-old Fort Worth man was in custody Tuesday in Mississippi, accused in the death of an Ole Miss student.
Brandon Theesfeld was booked into the Lafayette County Jail in Oxford, Mississippi, at 3:43 p.m. Monday. He is charged with murder. He appeared before a judge Tuesday along with his attorney Swayze Alford of Oxford, but bail will be decided later, the Associated Press reported.
A person who answered the telephone at Alford’s office said Tuesday he would not be making a comment on the case.
The body of Alexandria “Ally” Kostial, 21, of St. Louis, Missouri, was found Saturday in Harmontown, Mississippi, near Sardis Lake, according to the AP and other news reports. Her body was found about 20 miles from the college campus, according to St. Louis TV station KTVI.
WLBT-TV in Mississippi reported Kostial was last seen stopping at the door of a bar Friday night. Officials say she went back to her home around midnight but left again not long after.
A deputy with the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department was on patrol Saturday morning at Buford’s Ridge, a fishing camp where residents and college students go on weekends to ride ATVs. Kostial’s body was found by the deputy in that area, according to Mississippi news reports.
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WLBT-TV reported Kostial was shot eight times.
“We are not releasing details of the investigation as this is an ongoing investigation,” Lafayette County Sheriff’s Major Alan Wilburn told the AP. “We will release when it is appropriate and not before.”
Keith Kostial, Alexandria’s father, said in a Facebook post that his daughter was taking summer classes and teaching fitness classes at the university. She graduated from Lindbergh High School in St. Louis in 2016. She was working toward a bachelor’s degree in marketing.
Theesfeld attended Fort Worth Country Day and was a student at the University of Mississippi, according to his Facebook page.
He was a student in the School of Business Administration and was suspended from the university after his arrest, a university spokesman said.
He attended Fort Worth Country Day from 2012 to 2014, according to school records. He did not return to the school because of academics and he did not graduate from Fort Worth Country Day.
Theesfeld graduated in 2016 from San Marcos Academy in San Marcos, Texas. He attended the private Christian preparatory institution for two years, according to the school. He was boarding at the school during that time.
University of Mississippi Interim Chancellor Larry Sparks expressed his condolences to Kostial’s family and friends.
“We are truly saddened by the death of Alexandria Kostial. Ally was a valued member of our campus community,” he said in a statement, according to KTVI. “We extend our deepest sympathy to her family, friends, and classmates and stand ready to support them during this time. We appreciate the work of the Lafayette County Sherriff’s Department and Coroner as they conduct their investigation.”
This story was originally published July 23, 2019 at 11:51 AM with the headline "Fort Worth man is suspect in killing of University of Mississippi student."
