Donna Elaine Culpepper, 62, a White/Caucasian woman from De Kalb, Texas, died on June 19, 2025. Family members became concerned when they couldn’t reach her and went to a rural property on Private Road 42041 near De Kalb where she sometimes stayed; there, deputies later discovered two bodies and opened a double-homicide investigation. Donna had deep roots in the community and a life of service, including years as a correctional officer with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, as reflected in funeral notices announcing her passing on that date.
Deputies identified the second victim as Charles Beckham, a Texas corrections officer who, according to the sheriff, likely interrupted a burglary at his home in the early hours of June 19. Investigators believe he was shot multiple times; evidence collected by authorities and subsequent reporting indicate the killer tried to destroy evidence by setting Beckham’s truck—and his body—on fire. The same morning, Donna was also found dead on the property; records listing her name note she was lost to gun violence that day in De Kalb.
Within days, law enforcement named and arrested a suspect: 34-year-old Clyde Allen Stephens II. He was taken into custody in White County, Arkansas, while driving a vehicle belonging to one of the victims, and Bowie County authorities announced he would face capital murder charges in the killings of Charles Beckham and Donna Culpepper. Subsequent coverage specified he was the lone suspect.
The case moved forward over the summer. On August 7, 2025, a Bowie County grand jury indicted Clyde Allen Stephens II for capital murder, with additional counts including first-degree felony murder, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. If convicted of capital murder, he faces either life without parole or the death penalty under Texas law.
As friends and relatives planned services and remembered Donna’s faith and work ethic, the investigation solidified the timeline that brought officers to the scene: a worried family, a rural address on Private Road 42041, and the discovery that transformed a quiet patch of Bowie County into a major crime scene. The narrative that emerged—of a burglary turned deadly, a suspect fleeing across state lines, and a swift indictment—continues to frame the pursuit of justice for Donna Culpepper.
