A 51-year-old Dallas man has been charged with murder after investigators linked him to the death of a woman whose body was discovered inside a freezer at a vacant home in East Oak Cliff, according to newly released court documents.
Kendrick Brown was arrested last week in connection with the death of 27-year-old Maria Murray. Brown is being held in the Dallas County Jail on a murder charge, with bond set at $250,000.
Murray’s body was found on May 10 inside a working freezer located in the master bedroom of an abandoned residence in the 1400 block of Georgia Avenue near the Illinois Avenue DART station, The Dallas Express reported at the time.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Dallas police responded to the property after a neighbor reported that multiple people were leaving the vacant home and that a body was inside a freezer. Officers searched the residence and located the freezer containing Murray’s remains.
Investigators transported the body along with the freezer to the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office, where the corpse was thawed so that an autopsy could be conducted. The medical examiner determined Murray died from multiple stab wounds, including a wound above her right eye that penetrated her brain, according to court records.
Detectives reported finding blood on the carpet and walls inside the master bedroom. A large military-style knife with a brown handle was also recovered from behind drywall, hidden inside a hole in a living room wall. The weapon had been wrapped in cloth and a towel, the affidavit states.
Brown initially told investigators he knew nothing about the master bedroom or the freezer found inside it. However, authorities said videos recovered from his cellphone showed him and Murray in a romantic relationship and placed him inside the room on several occasions. The video also showed Brown walking around carrying the same knife that was found behind the drywall.
Some of the videos allegedly captured arguments between the pair.
A witness who lived at the house at the time spoke with detectives through an American Sign Language interpreter and described a volatile relationship between Brown and Murray. According to the affidavit, the witness said the couple frequently engaged in physical altercations and threatened each other with knives.
The witness also told investigators that three days before Murray’s body was discovered, he saw her lying on the floor of a closet connected to the master bedroom. The witness said Brown noticed him, yelled at him, and shut the bedroom door.
According to court documents, Brown never allowed the witness back into the master bedroom, and the witness never saw Murray again.
The home had been the subject of complaints from neighbors, who described it as a location associated with frequent drug activity and people coming and going at all hours.
Dallas police have not released additional details about how Brown was identified as a suspect. The investigation remains ongoing.
