Friends claim Princeton woman's ex-boyfriend abused her for months before her death
COLLIN COUNTY — Delisha Evans' family and friends said her ex-boyfriend killed her, set her house on fire, and drove her body in his car several states away.
"I am just I'm mad, I'm angry, and I'm hurt," says Kyerra Brooks.
Brooks said she is still in disbelief that she can no longer hug or text her best friend.
"I cannot say nothing bad about her," said Brooks. "She was a very friendly, happy person. She was a light in this world."
Evans was found dead Friday night, inside suspect Ryan Phillips' car near Saint Louis. Brooks said Phillips is Evans' ex-boyfriend. She said Evans is from the Saint Louis area and Philips lived in Saint Louis, but even after their breakup, they were still in contact because Phillips claimed he had cancer.
"She has a big heart and she fell for that. He willed her back in, by him guilt-tripping her with the cancer," Brooks said.
Brooks said Evans filed several police reports claiming Phillips had been abusing her for months and that he traveled to Texas often and stole Evans' car, money, threatened her and her daughters and broke into her home.
According to the Missouri Department of Corrections, Phillips was in prison for 10 years on charges including attempted assault on law enforcement and armed criminal action. At the time of Evans' death, Philips was out on parole.
"I just want to know how ... does the state of [Missouri] allow this to happen?" Brooks asked. "That's why I'm just angry. I'm mad because this is like, how could you allow him to do so many crimes over and over again?"
Investigators say Evans' home also caught fire earlier in the morning on Friday while her two daughters were in school, but have not verified the cause of the fire yet. Phillips was killed in a shootout with the Missouri Highway Patrol.
Friends hope Evans' story can help others struggling with abusive relationships.
"Listen to those warning signs. Listen to when your loved ones are telling you and give you that warning," said another friend of Evans, Irica Jackson.
CBS News Texas reached out to Phillip's parole officer in Saint Louis to ask why he was able to leave the state while on parole and has not gotten a response yet.