Killer on the loose after woman found dead at body shop
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A southeast Houston pastor whose church ministers to prostitutes is warning them after a woman was found dead on Tuesday.
The victim has been identified as 56-year-old Margaret Stewart. Her body was found Tuesday morning behind Fontenot's Body Shop on Calhoun near Yellowstone.
George Fontenot said he was on his daily check of his property when he made the discovery.
"She was face down, right here," Fontenot said. "When I opened the door, that's when I found the body."
Stewart was fully clothed and had head trauma, according to Houston police.
Three days a week since August, she would go to the homeless outreach ministry at Joy Baptist Church for lunch. Matilda Jolivette believes she was last there on Monday.
"It just bothers me a lot, you know, because I don't think she deserves that regardless what she was or what she's done," said Jolivette, who co-pastors with her husband. "I told my husband last night we must try harder. We've got to try harder."
Police are looking for a light blue or gray Dodge pickup truck. It was captured on security video cruising the area the night before Stewart's body was found.
Pastor Jolivette has been talking to women who work the streets in the area, warning them about what's out there, as police are searching for Stewart's killer. She has no known family. Jolivette says she now speaks for her.
"Whether she was a prostitute or a drug addict or whatever, she still didn't deserve that. She's a human being. A human soul that could still be saved with just a little more time."
Anyone with information on the case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS. You can also submit an anonymous tip online.
