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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/4660027.html
Neighbors recall odor from apartment where student was burned

By MONICA RHOR Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press
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HOUSTON — The acrid aroma billowing from the two barbecue grills on the balcony of Apartment 224 didn't smell like barbecue. And the black smoke rising from the leaping flames didn't look like a normal cookout.

What, neighbors at the Red Oak Place apartments wondered, was going on in the second floor apartment where 27-year-old Timothy Wayne Shepherd lived? What was he burning at all hours, for at least two days?

The answer turned their stomachs.

According to law enforcement officials, Shepherd had been burning the body of his former girlfriend, Tynesha Stewart, a 19-year-old Texas A&M University student. Nothing remains of Stewart's body, Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas said at a press conference Saturday.

"I just don't know what to think about it," said Louis Evans, whose balcony faces Shepherd's in the quiet tree-lined enclave in northern Houston. "I thought he was a nice normal person. I guess you never know what your neighbors are doing."

Shepherd has confessed to strangling and dismembering Stewart, who was home on spring break, because he was angry that she had started a new relationship.

Officials first thought Shepherd had disposed of the body in a large commercial trash bin that had since been emptied, launching a heated debate over whether the Sheriff's Department should conduct a massive and expensive search of area landfills for Stewart's remains.

Shepherd, who is charged with murder, is being held on $250,000 bond in the Harris County Jail. Telephone message left with his attorney, Chip Lewis, were not immediately returned. On Sunday, the door to Shepherd's apartment was covered with plywood boards.

Thomas, the sheriff, said Stewart's family had requested privacy and would not respond to media inquiries.

Stewart was last seen March 15 and was reported missing March 19. The next day the Harris County Sheriff's Office homicide division launched its investigation.

That same day, March 16, neighbors first noticed the unusual activity — and the unpleasant odor — on Shepherd's balcony.

"The smell was awful," said Evans, who also became alarmed after seeing a blaze shoot out from the grills. "I was wondering: What is he burning? Not cooking, but burning. There is a difference."

At times, Evans said, the flames from the grills leapt dangerously close to the roof of the balcony. Evans says he called 911, but when firefighters arrived, the flames had calmed and Shepherd assured them everything was under control.

A leasing agent at the apartment complex also noticed the thick dark smoke and the intense flames and asked Shepherd what he was doing, Evans said. Shepherd told one neighbor that he was barbecuing food for a wedding.

But Evans says his suspicions were immediately aroused after he learned that Shepherd's ex-girlfriend had disappeared.

"When I found out someone was missing, I put two and two together myself," said Evans, who said neighbors have been stunned by the grisly nature of the crime. "This has thrown everything off for those of us living here."

Wow... totally insane.

Which, by the way, will end up being his plea and he'll probably escape the death penalty because of it. Which is too bad, because the man should fry.

NOT FUNNY, -----------------------------------------------

LOL, good one CalDawg, but sriously, people should be smoked for doing stuff like this..

No worries, I am sure he will be toast.

He should get the gas chamber.

Sick You really wonder what is going through their minds when people do stuff like this, or, no, their not thinking

Wonder what he did to make her cheat on him???? I guess it really burned her up!

"...Nothing remains of Stewart's body, Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas said at a press conference Saturday."

I can't believe that the bones and teeth all would be gone on a BarB Q grill!

What was she doin with a 27 year old if she's 19!

Take it from a mother that asks the same questions of her 22 yrd old idiot child for being with a man 44. I do not see what is so great about a man that has a criminal record and is about to go in prison for 5 years or more on more charges. I will never understand their thinking.

Being with a "bad" boy is one thing but being with someone that has gone further than being a bad boy is beyond my comprehension. It's like those fruitloopy women that write to murderers in prison and fall in love with them.

Probably the same reason Debra LaFave (sp?) has a fan club

Well it mattered this time didn't it?

Why would anyone assume it has anything to do with the age thing? That's silly.

I don't know how silly it is when a man of 27 is enamored with a gal just removed from high school...seems like an odd pairing....sometimes listening to your parents is a good thing.
Yes, I know that there are nuts of all ages but generally when women date "older men" it seems to be a mid twenty something and a thirty something.

The guy is a psychopathic nut. I don't give a rat's how old he is, it's irrelevant to the situation, IMO.

I really need to move...

I'll spare us all the "Don't ask what's cooking" jokes. If he doesn't plead insanity, I could see him pleading religion. This looks like something from any religion (read sacrifice/purification) You don't think he could/would?

I don't really care who dates whom...I simply must note that this crazy was considerably older than the victim. Whether it has any relevance to the case I do not know....I found it unusual but then again some people choose alternative dating choices...it's their life...oh wait, she is dead isn't she!

Well, FYI...a lot of people date older/younger people. I know of several couples with a 10 year age difference. I guess if one of them goes crazy, we can blame it on that.

You could try that with me, but I'd have you charged with a hate crime.


I can't understand why this moron confessed, unless he left DNA evidence everywhere. Without the body, there is no murder. All that's left is the suspicion of murder.