Grand Prairie man accused of murdering recent valedictorian

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - A man faces a murder charge after police found the body of a 20-year-old woman in a car.

Police arrested Anthony Marcus on Thursday. Investigators believe he shot Florencia Padilla in the car somewhere between Denton and Grand Prairie.

The car ended up outside an apartment complex in Grand Prairie Thursday morning.

People who live in the community said they didn’t hear anything suspicious.

“It was frightening. It was frightening. ‘Cause I’ve never seen or been in nothing like that so it kind of scared me,” said Kimberly Davis, who lives nearby.

“I know they said they was real young, so what could be that bad to make someone do that. I just don’t understand,” added Willie Hall, who also lives in the area.

Police are investigating the shooting as a family violence case.

Padilla was the 2014 valedictorian of the Grand Prairie Fine Arts Academy.