Woman on lam for eight years accused of capital murder
NEW BOSTON, Texas — A woman arrested in Mexico by U.S. Marshals at the end of October was indicted this week for capital murder in the 2012 death of a Texarkana man.
Alana Coleman, 38, is accused of stabbing Donald Ray Morris with a knife and scissors on Aug. 12, 2012. Morris was discovered dead in his unit of the Redwood Apartments on 7th Street in Texarkana, Texas, by police, according to a probable cause affidavit. A manager at the apartments noticed a broken window with blood on it and blood on Morris’ door when she went to deliver the mail at about 6:30 p.m. that evening and called police.
“There appeared to have been a very violent struggle in the apartment and there was blood spatter all over the apartment,” the affidavit states.
A broken pair of bloody scissors and a broken knife were found near the body. Neighbors of Morris’ told investigators they had seen Coleman’s car parked at the complex earlier that day. The neighbor said he knocked on Morris’ door at about 3:30 p.m. to ask a question and Morris allegedly
offered to show him a video he had made. The neighbor allegedly assumed the video was pornographic and declined Morris’ invitation.
A bloody shirt with a distinctive logo matched a shirt Coleman was allegedly wearing in video surveillance at a convenience store near the murder scene earlier that day. A camera with nude photos of Coleman was allegedly collected from the scene as well.
Investigators believe Coleman and possibly together with her male companion murdered Morris because they believed he had more than $1,000 in his apartment.
Coleman was allegedly filmed driving her car through a border checkpoint in south Texas on Aug. 27, 2012. In December 2012, investigators received a report from the crime lab that indicated DNA from an unknown female had been found at the murder scene.
Investigators wanted to compare Coleman’s DNA to the sample but Coleman was believed to be in Mexico. To obtain a sample of Coleman’s DNA, investigators went to Coleman’s mother. The mother told investigators Coleman had been living with her brother until she allegedly assaulted and robbed the brother in April 2012.
The brother reported that Coleman and a male companion had bound him and robbed him “causing several lacerations and a puncture wound.”
The brother allegedly told investigators he had seen Coleman and her male companion rob a man in Texarkana, Arkansas, the same way but did not tell anyone about what he observed “because he was scared of his sister.”
The brother told investigators he had placed all of Coleman’s belongings in garbage bags and stored them in a shed in his mother’s backyard. The bags were collected by police.
Items from the bags, including unwashed panties, toothbrushes and razors, were sent to the crime lab. Ultimately the lab tested the panties and a sample with the same DNA profile as found at the murder scene was allegedly discovered. Now that Coleman is in custody, investigators are able to obtain a search warrant for Coleman’s DNA and collect a sample directly from her.
Coleman is being held with bail set at $1 million. In addition to capital murder, Coleman is facing a motion to revoke a probation she was serving for possession of a controlled substance and a warrant for failure to appear on a misdemeanor theft charge.
If found guilty of capital murder, Coleman faces five to 99 years or life in prison.