'Beautiful soul': Family remembers Plano mother of 5 killed by ex-boyfriend
PLANO, Texas - The sister of a Plano woman murdered by her ex-boyfriend remembered her as a "beautiful soul", and has set up a GoFundMe to help pay for her funeral expenses and support her five children.
Plano Lakestream Drive murder
The backstory:
On September 13, Plano Police received a call about a shooting at a home on Lakestream Drive.
Police found that 32-year-old Tashley Gateley had been shot multiple times in the home. She was pronounced deceased.
The suspect, later identified as 31-year-old William Grundy, fled the scene in a black Dodge Charger.
One of Gateley's children, who was in the home at the time of the shooting, wrote down Grundy's license plate number to help police find him.
On the morning of September 14, police tracked Grundy to a hotel. Texas Department of Public Safety troopers attempted to initiate a traffic stop, but Grundy refused to stop and led authorities on a pursuit on I-35W.
Grundy fired shots towards state troopers during the pursuit. The pursuit ended near the Cooke County and Denton County border when Grundy crashed into the highway's center median.
He was pronounced deceased at the scene. His vehicle caught fire after it crashed and caused a small grass fire.
"A beautiful soul"
What they're saying:
"She was a beautiful soul."
Brianna Gipson, Tashley's sister, tells FOX 4's Alex Boyer Gateley had moved into the Plano residence a few months earlier to escape an abusive relationship with Grundy.
"He was blowing her phone up, constantly texting threats."
Brianna Gipson
Gipson says Grundy entered the home with a spare key. All five of Gateley's children were inside the home when Grundy entered, and one was in bed with her.
Grundy reportedly told the child to go upstairs before he shot her 13 times.
Now, Gipson says she's glad Grundy is gone. She's focused on remembering her sister and raising her children.
"We're trying to hold up. We're trying to stay strong," Gipson said." It's really weird to continue to live knowing that person is not coming back, that that person is gone."
"But just seeing the smiles on the kids' faces every day as they choose to be strong. It makes us stronger to just keep going, because we have to."
What you can do:
A GoFundMe has been set up to pay for Gateley's funeral and therapy for her five children, which you can find here.
The Source: Information in this story comes from an interview with Tashley Gateley's sister and previous FOX 4 reporting.