The Dallas Express is spotlighting killer johns in the latest installment of its Dirty John DFW series.
It is no secret that female sex workers are vulnerable to violence, with research showing them to be up to 100 times more at risk of being murdered than the average woman. The clandestine nature of prostitution and its association with other forms of criminality not only exposes prostitutes to heightened risk but also makes bringing the perpetrators to justice all the more difficult.
Nationwide, the murder rate for prostitutes is estimated to be around 204 for every 100,000, and an active sex worker is believed to be the victim of a crime — such as theft or assault — at least once a month.
“When you dehumanize a person to the point that they become a commodity, that means now you’re just a product to someone that is to be paid for, used, and discarded,” explained Rebekah Charleston, a victim of sex trafficking, per WFAA.
“You don’t know how many women I know [that] have been either murdered by their sex traffickers or by their buyers that purchase them,” Charleston added.
Here are some potentially killer johns known or suspected of murdering women in the illicit sex trade in North Texas.
Yons Alshabli
As recently reported by The Dallas Express, Yons Alshabli was arrested on July 9 on murder charges. The 32-year-old suspect is accused of fatally shooting 41-year-old Crystal Nacole Daniels, a suspected prostitute, and leaving her in the parking lot of a strip mall in the 11500 block of Plano Road with a $10 bill in her hand.
Alshabli told police that he had picked up Daniels and arranged to have sex with her at a nearby motel in exchange for $70. However, he reportedly got nervous when he saw a truck following behind them and tried to kick her out of his car, but she refused to leave. He further claimed that while he was struggling with Daniels, his gun accidentally fired and struck her.
The suspect is currently booked in the Dallas County jail on a $1 million bond.
Oscar Sanchez-Garcia
Last summer, Dallas police arrested 25-year-old Oscar Sanchez-Garcia in connection with the murders of three women believed to have been sex workers, as covered by The Dallas Express.
The bodies of the victims — 60-year-old Kimberly Robinson, 25-year-old Cherish Gibson, and 31-year-old De’brenese Henry — were found in the fields of Oak Cliff in April, June, and July 2023.
Joseph Aparicio
On March 17, 2023, a witness allegedly saw 19-year-old Janeecia Mason climb into the vehicle of 29-year-old Joseph Aparicio on Walnut Hill Lane, a hotspot for prostitution in northwestern Dallas. It was the last time Mason was seen alive.
As covered by The Dallas Express, Mason’s body was found lying on top of rocks under a bridge crossing the Trinity River in Fort Worth several days later. She had been shot twice. The Fort Worth Police Department charged Aparicio with murder.
The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office also indicted Aparicio on attempted murder charges this June for an incident that occurred in November 2021. A female victim was stabbed but survived. There are also murder charges listed by both the Carrollton Police Department and the Denton County Sheriff’s Office, per records.
Charles Frederick Albright
In 1991, Charles Albright, a carpenter from north Oak Cliff, was arrested and charged with killing four women. All four victims were alleged prostitutes, and their killer fatally shot them before removing their eyes.
One victim, 33-year-old Mary Lou Pratt, was known to work at the Star Motel in Oak Cliff. She was discovered nude, beaten, and shot in the head in December 1990. It wasn’t until a pathologist at the Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office had Pratt on her table that the grisly discovery was made that Pratt’s eyes had been meticulously cut out from their sockets.
In the months that followed, the bodies of 45-year-old Shirley Williams and 27-year-old Susan Beth Peterson also turned up in Oak Cliff, nearly nude, shot, and without eyes. The distinctive MO led to detectives linking an earlier case, the violent stabbing death of 30-year-old Rhonda Bowie in October 1988, to the same killer.
Ultimately, prosecutors dropped all charges except the one for Williams’ murder. Albright was tried in November 1991, found guilty, and sentenced to life in prison.
As previously reported by DX, crimes related to the illegal sex trade are prominent in northwestern Dallas, which is represented by Council Member Omar Narvaez (District 6).
“There are organized prostitution rings that are coming in from other cities out there,” Wendy Risinger, a retired prosecutor who has been hired by businesses in and around Harry Hines, previously told DX. “One week it’s Oklahoma girls, another week Houston, another week Miami. My guess is they rotate throughout the country because it’s a way to not get discovered by working too long in one area.”
By constantly staying on the move, pimps decrease the chances that law enforcement will start to recognize their faces and the women’s faces.
Relatedly, the Dallas Police Department’s staffing shortage is causing a serious strain on officers’ abilities to focus on the area. With only around 3,000 officers currently on the street, Dallas is short the 4,000 a prior City analysis determined was needed to adequately police the jurisdiction.