Tynesha Devonna Stewart, a 19-year-old freshman at Texas A&M University, was last seen on March 15, 2007, while home for spring break in Houston, Texas. She was studying civil and chemical engineering. Her ex-boyfriend, Timothy Wayne Shepherd, initially told police he last saw her leaving his apartment on the morning of March 15 after an argument. Stewart was officially reported missing on March 19.
Friends and family described the relationship between Stewart and Shepherd as volatile, with Shepherd being jealous and controlling. Stewart had previously told her sister that Shepherd had choked her and threatened her life. She had started seeing someone else at college, and although Shepherd had stopped contacting her for a period, he resumed regular calls in February 2007, causing Stewart to fear returning to Houston for spring break.
The investigation into Stewart's disappearance quickly focused on Timothy Wayne Shepherd. When police first questioned him, he claimed Stewart had left his apartment after they argued. However, a search of his apartment revealed it had been cleaned with ammonia and bleach, and some areas were freshly painted. Despite the cleaning efforts, traces of blood were discovered in the bathroom. Neighbors reported noticing a foul odor and thick black smoke coming from Shepherd's balcony, where he was seen barbecuing constantly for several days, which was unusual for him. One neighbor even called 911 on the evening of March 16 due to the height of the flames from the grills. When police and firefighters responded, Shepherd assured them everything was fine. Inside the apartment, they observed pieces of meat in the bathtub and burned chunks of meat on the stove but did not find anything they deemed suspicious at the time.
A significant breakthrough in the case came when Shepherd confessed to community activist Quanell X. Shepherd initially led Quanell X and the police to a dumpster where he claimed to have disposed of Stewart's body, but the dumpster had already been emptied. He later confessed to police that he had strangled Stewart during an argument. Authorities ultimately concluded that Shepherd had dismembered Stewart's body in his bathtub and then burned her remains on two barbecue grills on his balcony over a period of two to three days. Investigators found bone and tooth enamel fragments in Shepherd's garbage disposal and burned bone fragments with cut marks under his patio. During his trial in October 2008, Shepherd claimed he acted in self-defense after Stewart attacked him with a knife. The jury convicted him of murder, and he was sentenced to 99 years in prison.Last Seen: Mar 15, 2007
