A woman found shot to death was allegedly killed during a paid sexual encounter gone wrong in Dallas last week.
Yons Alshabli has been arrested for murder after being linked to the death of a woman who was discovered fatally shot by Dallas police in the parking lot of a strip mall in the 11500 block of Plano Road at approximately 2:45 a.m. on July 9. Attempts by Dallas Fire-Rescue to revive her failed, and she died at the scene.
The victim was identified by the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office as 41-year-old Crystal Nacole Daniels. According to Dallas County court records, Daniels had an extensive criminal history that included several charges of prostitution.
An investigation of nearby surveillance video footage allegedly led to the identification of Alshabli as a person of interest in Daniels’ death. However, the 32-year-old suspect reportedly told investigators several versions of what happened leading up to the victim’s death, per an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by Fox 4 KDFW.
Initially, Alshabli allegedly claimed that his car had been stolen. Later, he purportedly confessed to having picked up Daniels and arranged to have sex with her at a nearby motel in exchange for $70. However, while en route, he said he grew concerned about a pickup truck tailing him and tried to kick her out of his car. He said he tried to give her $10 for the inconvenience, Fox 4 reported.
The suspect then claimed that Daniels refused to exit the vehicle, and a struggle ensued. His gun accidentally went off, striking her. He then removed her from his car and left her in the parking lot, where she was discovered with a $10 bill in her hand.
Alshabli, who also appears to be in the midst of eviction proceedings for failure to pay rent, is currently booked in the Dallas County jail on a $1 million bond.
The Far Northeast Dallas parking lot where Daniels was found is located in District 10. Council Member Kathy Stewart represents this council district, which has clocked seven murders this year as of July 15, according to data from the City’s crime analytics dashboard.
While Council Member Omar Narvaez’s District 6 is known for being the hub of the illicit sex trade in Dallas, Stewart’s District 10 has seen four prostitution-related offenses, two cases of sex trafficking, and 21 reports of sex offenses.
The Dallas Police Department has employed a hotspot policing approach to lower the citywide murder rate. Although 111 people have been killed compared to 143 last year, the vast majority of murder victims continue to be minorities, as covered regularly in The Dallas Express.
DPD has been short-staffed and underfunded, limiting its effectiveness in fighting crime. Only around 3,000 officers are fielded at present, despite a prior City analysis recommending a force of roughly 4,000 to police a jurisdiction the size of Dallas. Meanwhile, the Dallas City Council approved a budget for DPD of just $654 million this fiscal year, which is considerably less taxpayer money allocated towards public safety than in other high-crime cities, such as Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City.