Texas Mother Fatally Shot While Trying to Raise Money to Buy 6-Year-Old Daughter a Christmas Gift
A Texas woman who was trying to sell jewelry online in order to make enough money to buy her 6-year-old daughter a gift for Christmas was shot and killed after arranging to meet a potential buyer last week, according to police and reports.
April Vancleave, 33, had agreed to meet the buyer at the Target located in the area of South Cooper Street and Arbrook Boulevard in Arlington last Thursday, the Arlington Police Department said in a news release.
Wanting to remain cautious, she also took her husband along, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
But when the couple went to meet the buyer at the Starbucks inside the store, that person wasn’t there, the newspaper reported. The pair then drove back to their apartment complex, where the husband dropped the wife off and headed to work.
While in the parking lot of the complex, Vancleave was confronted by someone and shot, according to the police news release. She was taken to a hospital where she later died.
Arlington police Lt. Chris Cook told the Star-Telegram that investigators believe the potential buyers followed the couple to their apartment complex, then likely tried to rob Vancleave after she was dropped off in the parking lot.
Vancleave had been trying to sell the jewelry in order to raise enough money to buy her daughter, Lilly, a Christmas gift, her relatives told the newspaper.
No arrests have been made, but police released surveillance video from the Target store showing two people they describe as “persons of interest.”
In the footage, which was posted to the department’s Facebook page, the two men are seen walking out of the retailer and then driving off in a red pickup truck.
Anyone who recognizes the two men, or has information about the case, is asked to contact Arlington police at 817-459-5735. Those wishing to remain anonymous can leave a tip by calling the local Crime Stoppers hotline at 817-469-8477.
A $10,000 reward has been offered by Oaks Farms Dairy for anyone who has information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for the homicide, the release stated.
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe has been established to pay for Vancleave’s funeral.