A 51-year-old man has been arrested on a murder charge in connection with the death of 27-year-old Mariah Murray who was found dead inside a freezer in the 1400 block of Georgia Avenue on May, 10, 2026.
A 51-year-old man is facing a murder charge after his romantic partner’s body was found stabbed and frozen in a freezer in an east Oak cliff home in May, his arrest
Kendrick Brown was arrested on a murder charge on June 18 in connection with the death of 27-year-old Maria Murray, according to Dallas police and his arrest warrant affidavit.
A police investigation into the killing of Murray in May led to Brown’s arrest after several key witnesses spoke with investigators, according to Brown’s affidavit.
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Police first learned of Murray’s death from a 911 call on May 10. In the affidavit, police said a witness reported that many people were living in an alleged vacant home in the 1400 block of Georgia Avenue. The witness also said there was a dead body in a freezer at the home.
Police did a sweep of the home and found Brown inside a bedroom. According to the affidavit, he was initially detained and arrested for outstanding warrants. Police continued to search the home until they found a white freezer in the master bedroom with a woman’s body inside.
Blood was also found throughout the room, and a “large KA Bar military style knife” was found behind the drywall in the living room wall wrapped in a cloth, according to the affidavit.
The Dallas County medical examiner transported the freezer to their office, according to the affidavit. At the time, police said Murray’s cause of death could not be determined as she needed to “thaw before an autopsy could be completed” and could not be removed from the freezer, according to the affidavit.
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In an interview with detectives, Brown confirmed he lived at the home. According to the affidavit, he also said he had not seen Murray since they got into a physical altercation near a DART train station about three days before. During the fight, Brown claimed Murray scratched him. Police said in the affidavit Brown had a visible injury to his arm.
Murray’s autopsy was completed on May 13 and confirmed she was stabbed several times, according to the affidavit.
Police arrested Brown on a murder charge after a witness who lived at the home connected Brown to the killing.
In the affidavit, police said they spotted the witness in security footage recorded days prior to the suspected killing of Murray. Detectives determined the witness possibly lived at the home and he was interviewed.
The man claimed he stayed at the home from time to time and believed Murray and Brown were in a possible romantic relationship, according to the affidavit. He also said Murray and Brown “were always in physical altercations with each other” that sometimes involved weapons, according to the affidavit.
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On the morning of Murray’s death, the witness said he heard a hard thumping sound coming from the master bedroom, according to the affidavit. He told detectives that when he left for work, he saw Murray on the floor, believed she was sleeping, and then left.
When he returned, he saw blood on the floor where Murray had been lying, according to the affidavit. He then saw Murray on the floor in the closet inside the master bedroom, at which point Brown saw him, yelled at him, and shut the bedroom door, according to the affidavit.
As of Tuesday, Brown is being held at the Dallas County jail with bail set at $250,000.