Report: Wife of slain Dallas runner took own life
DALLAS -- The wife of a runner killed in what police describe as a random machete attack on a Dallas trail Oct. 12 has reportedly committed suicide.
Thomas Johnson, 21, once a rising Texas A&M football star, has been charged in the murder of David Stevens, 53. Police say Johnson admitted to choosing the victim randomly.
Police say after Johnson killed the victim, who was running without identification along the tree-lined White Rock Creek Trail in Dallas, Johnson walked to a nearby equestrian center and called 911.
The Dallas County Sheriff's Office confirmed that Stevens' wife, Patti, was found deceased in the garage of the couple's home Sunday, reports CBS DFW. The 54-year-old physical therapist had taken her own life, reports the Dallas Morning News.
The woman had told the Morning News Oct. 19 about her overwhelming grief after the death of her husband of 25 years.
"Dave was the love of my life and I'm lost without him," she told the paper. People need to know that this was a wonderful person going out and doing what he loved to do."
David Stevens ran the trail three times a week before heading to his electrical engineering job at GE, reports the paper.
Johnson had been a high profile football recruit from Dallas's Skyline High School and became a celebrated wide receiver for Texas A&M. He was considered by many to be the pride of the South Oak Cliff neighborhood where he grew up, according to CBS DFW.
In 2012, the then 18-year-old college freshman was reported missing days after making a key play to help his team beat then-top ranked Alabama. He resurfaced, but would never play football for Texas A&M again. The school, Johnson, his family and the police never commented publicly about why Johnson disappeared from the school.
Johnson remains in jail on $500,000 bond, charged with murder, reports CBS DFW.