TARRANT COUNTY, Texas - A Tarrant County jury sentenced a man to death after he was found guilty of killing a young mother whose body was discovered hidden under his Fort Worth home.
Jury Delivers Death Sentence
What we know:
A Tarrant County jury sentenced 28-year-old Valerian "Will" O'Steen to death for killing a 26-year-old mother of two in February 2022.
The case was prosecuted by Tarrant County Assistant District Attorneys Allenna Bangs and Peter Gieseking.
Marissa Grimes, of Arlington, was reported missing by her family in February 2022. Her body eventually was found in the crawl space under O'Steen's pier-and-beam rental home in Fort Worth.
"There was one person with the motive, opportunity, and the desire to kill Marissa Grimes," Bangs said.
That was O'Steen. O'Steen had a history of domestic violence against Grimes.
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A History of Violence and Threats
The backstory:
In January 2022, after not knowing Grimes for long, O'Steen threatened to kill her. He refused to let her leave his house for days, but Grimes eventually was able to text her father, which led to police intervention.
"She was in fear for her life," Gieseking said.
O'Steen was arrested on domestic violence charges. As he bonded out of jail, the court ordered him to stay away from Grimes and wear a GPS ankle monitor.
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Valerian Osteen was indicted for the murder of Marissa Grimes by a Tarrant County Grand Jury.
According to Tarrant County District Attorney, O’Steen wanted the charges dropped and the monitor off his body and he told people that he was going to kill Grimes.
Grimes was scared, and her family convinced her to move to West Texas. But soon, Grimes and O'Steen were again talking, texting, and seeing each other. Driving a U-Haul packed for her move, she stopped by his home late on February 12, 2022, to say a quick goodbye. That goodbye turned into an evening where Grimes and O'Steen visited one of O'Steen's neighbors, who saw O'Steen threaten Grimes with a gun.
That was the last time Grimes was seen alive. Grimes's family soon reported her missing.
The Investigation and Discovery
Dig deeper:
Days later, her abandoned U-Haul was found about a mile from O'Steen's house. Police executed a search warrant and found Grimes's decomposing body wrapped in blankets and a tarp in the crawl space under O'Steen's home.
"He dug her a shallow grave and lived above her for 10 days," Bangs said.
Cause of Death and Prosecution's Case
Grimes suffered a broken arm, nose, ribs, along with two black eyes. She also had multiple lacerations to her head, and bruises on her arms, hands, and fingers.
Her hair was chopped short in some areas.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled her death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the head.
What they're saying:
"She was beaten to death," Gieseking told the jury. "She had been tortured."
"That is not what we dispense. In this courthouse, we administer justice." District Attorney Phil Sorrells praised the work of the Fort Worth Police Department. DA Investigator Tim Pinckney and Victim Advocate Clara Salvatierra also worked on the case.
The Source: Information in this article was provided by the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office.