Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Beloved Science Teacher Beaten to Death. Half-Naked Husband Nabbed Hours Later | Crime Alert 6AM 11.05.25

Episode Date: November 5, 2025

Texas teacher Chelsea Spillers, 33, is found dead inside her home, and her half-naked husband is nabbed hours later for her murder. The sister of a Houston, Texas man found hanging and burned under a freeway overpass says her brother was murdered—and she’s begging for justice. A South Carolina death row inmate who once taunted investigators with messages written in his victim’s blood has chosen to die by firing squad. Drew Nelson reports.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crime Alert. I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. A half-naked Texas man wandering around the streets asking for a shirt. Concerned neighbors call police and now Brandon Ashley facing murder charges in the death of his wife. Chelsea Spillers. Detectives say Chelsea, a high school biology teacher, died by blunt force trauma in her own home. Straight out to Drew Nelson for more. She was a wonderful lady, very loved by the entire community. That's Alvarado High School teacher, Shanna Valorell, showing our TV news partners of Fox 4KDFW, one of hundreds of purple ribbons. She helped students make, bearing Miss Spiller's name. Police say Spillers, age 33, was found dead in her home on October 18. Her husband, 40-year-old Brandon Ashley, was later arrested in B-Dyes in Grimes County about 150 miles south of Alvarado,

after those reports of the half-naked man asking for a shirt. Deputies said he seemed to be in a mental health crisis. Investigators said Alvaredo police first went to the couple's home on a disturbance call. When they got there, Ashley allegedly held a gun to his head. He was arrested for interfering with public duties and bonded out the next morning. Two days later, officers were sent back for a welfare check. They found Spillers dead inside the house. Her cause of death ruled blunt force trauma. For this to happen to her and the way it happened, it's heartbreaking.

Grimes County deputies said Ashley was found outside a convenience store and beat. dies. He told officers he had hidden a gun nearby but refused to say where. Deputies later found a 357 revolver and confirmed that he was wanted for murder out of Johnson County. He was taken to the hospital for evaluation before being booked into the Grimes County Jail. Michaela Norris is a former freshman and sophomore student of Ms. Spillers. It still feels surreal because like how can someone do that? I feel like though she's gone, she still lives. She lives through all of the students she touched. Spiller's taught biology and chemistry and was known for her upbeat attitude and for making a real connection with her students. The Alvarado Independent School District

called her, quote, a dedicated educator who loved her students and Alberato ISD team. A GoFundMe page has raised more than $6,000 toward a modest goal to help her 11-year-old son and her mother, who was also a teacher who spent 40 years at Midlothian High School. Friends and former students described her as compassionate, intelligent, and fiercely dedicated to her family. Spillers' funeral was held in Midlothian where she grew up and graduated in 2010. She is survived by her son Ryland, her mother and stepfather Patty and Kevin Tiller, her sister Courtney Castillo, and her grandmother Carolyn Spillers. Thanks, Drew. More Crime and Justice News after this.

The sister of a Houston, Texas man, found hanging and burned under a a freeway overpass says her brother was murdered and she is begging for justice. Jeremy Glenn Carnes, age 46, was discovered beneath the I-610 North Loop Overpass near Kirkpatrick Boulevard after Union Pacific railroad workers reported what they believed was a brushfire. When the first responders arrived, they found a man's body hanging from a rope and burning. Police have opened a homicide investigation. People look at homeless people and they don't see a human. Bye, too.

I always have. Karn's sister Camilla Kit told our TV news partners at Fox 26 Houston, she believes her brother was targeted and killed by people who attacked him earlier. He was in the hospital two days before this happened. He was attacked. Karn's family said he was terrified for his safety. Police have not announced any suspects. Investigators said the combination of hanging and fire make suicide, quote,

highly unlikely. Known in his hometown of Alvin, Texas by the nickname. named Boogie. Carnes is remembered by relatives as fearless, funny, and kind. His obituary describes him as a man devoted to his two children, Lelu and Logan, and a man whose, quote, end of life was unfair and tragic. Karn's Blue Healer Dog Cross, who was missing after the killing, has since been found and reunited with the family and may be pregnant. A GoFundMe started by his sister has raised funds to cover his funeral expenses and future expenses for Cross and travel for his children to attend a celebration of life on the 29th.

Kid says her brother struggled with homelessness. I promise she was God as my witness. There's nothing he could have done to deserve that. A candlelight vigil was held near the overpass where his body was found, where his sister vowed to keep pushing for answers. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Houston Police Homicide Division at 713-308-360. A South Carolina death row inmate who once taunted

investigators with messages written in his victim's blood has chosen to die by firing squad. The condemned, 44-year-old Stephen Corey Bryant is scheduled to be executed on the 14th the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia. He will become the third inmate this year to face South Carolina's firing squad joining Brad Sigmund and Michael Moddy. Bryant's decision to die by bullets comes amid renewed controversy over the state's firing squad following claims that Madi's execution in April was botched. Attorneys from Madi say the shooters missed his heart, causing him to moan and gasp for more than a minute before dying.

Prison officials insisted the execution went as planned and that two bullets likely entered the same wound channel. Bryant pleaded guilty in 2008 to three murders committed during a week-long rampage across rural Sumter County in October 2004. Prosecutors said he first killed 36-year-old Clifton Ganey, then gunned down 62-year-old Willard T. J. T. T. Chin in his home, burning the victim's eyes with cigarettes before writing, quote, catch me if you can on the wall in blood. Candles were lit around Tichin's body and a potholder dipped in blood. More words, quote, victim four in two weeks.

Two days later, Bryant shot 35-year-old Christopher Burgess after meeting him at a convenience store. Another man, Clinton Brown, survived a gunshot wound in an earlier incident. Investigators said Bryant's Crimes, quote, terrorized Sumter County and left families fearing a serial killer was on the loose. Defense attorneys argued that Bryant had begged for psychiatric help before the killings, telling relatives and a probation officer he was reliving sexual abuse he suffered as a child. They said he used meth and marijuana, sprayed with insecticide. Bryant was sentenced to death for Teachan's murder and received life terms for the others. His final appeals were rejected last month.

His death will mark South Carolina's 50th execution since the death penalty, was reinstated. Thanks, Drew. For the latest crime and justice news, go to crimeonline.com, and please join us for our daily podcast, crime stories, where we do our best to find missing

people, especially children, and help solve unsolved homicides. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Thank you.