A Texas neighborhood is hurting from the murder of a respected high school teacher, who was discovered dead in her home two days before her husband was arrested.
Chelsea Spillers, 33, was killed in her Alvarado, Texas home on Saturday, Oct. 18, in what was being investigated as a “unexplained death,” according to the Alvarado Police Department.
Authorities believe she died as a result of blunt force trauma and have filed a murder warrant for her husband Brandon Ashley, according to Alvarado police.
Ashley was arrested on Monday in Bedias, roughly 150 miles south of Alvarado, on charges of trespassing at a residence the day before, according to a statement from the Grimes County Sheriff’s Office.
Grimes County authorities received reports on Sunday of a shirtless male roaming on private property while experiencing a mental health episode, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.
According to authorities, he was reportedly seen knocking on the doors of many neighbors on Sunday morning, begging for a shirt.
He allegedly stated that he was avoiding a highway because it had “too many cops,” according to the sheriff’s office.
When he was caught on Monday morning, he allegedly told police that he had hidden a handgun near the arrest spot but refused to provide any other information.
According to the Grimes County Sheriff’s Office, deputies quickly located a revolver.
Spillers was a popular biology and chemistry teacher at Alvarado High School.
In a statement, the Alvarado Independent School District told PEOPLE that Spillers was “a dedicated educator who loved her scholars and the Alvarado ISD team.”
A pupil at the school told NBC DFW that Spillers was the “light of my day.”
“I would attend her class. “I’d go see her after every class period,” junior Ava Kelly told the site. “I could speak to her. She would speak to me.”
“I feel like even though she’s gone, she lives on,” former classmate McKayla Norris told Fox 4 News. “She lives on through all of her students she touched.”
Ashley is presently awaiting extradition from Grimes County, Alvarado police told PEOPLE.
The investigation is underway.
