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Tynesha Devonna Stewart 1987 - 2007

Tynesha Devonna Stewart of Spring, Harris County, Texas was born on July 10, 1987 in Galveston, Galveston County, and died at age 19 years old on March 15, 2007 in Harris County.

Tynesha Devonna Stewart

Spring, Harris County, Texas 77373

July 10, 1987

Galveston, Galveston County, Texas, United States

March 15, 2007

Harris County, Texas, United States

Female

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Tynesha Devonna Stewart Tynesha Stewart (1987 - 2007)

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Tynesha Devonna Stewart's History: 1987 - 2007

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Introduction

Tynesha Devonna Stewart's death was featured on the podcast "They Will Kill" Episode 10. But this bright light was so much more than the circumstances surrounding the end of her life. Tynesha was born on July 10, 1987 in Galveston TX to Gale Laverne Glenn. She was one of six children and her father died when she was just 6 yrs old. But she had brains and ambition and while in high school, she managed the girls’ basketball team and participated in other extra-curricular activities, all while juggling a part time job. She graduated from Nimitz High School and was in the top ten percent of her class. In 2005, she won a scholarship in which she was one of 15 ,ersity studying Civil and Chemical Engineering. While Tynesha was 16 and still in high school, she met Timothy Shepherd, age 24, and he became her boyfriend. But her family says that she became afraid of him and when she went to college, they broke up. (It seems that Timothy didn't accept the break up and the fact that she subsequently began to date someone else and he would often call her, sometimes several times a day.) When Tynesha was on Spring Break, she returned home and saw Timothy at his apartment. That was the last time anyone heard from her. In the end, Shepherd admitted to killing her, dismembering her body, and barbecuing the parts on 2 barbeques on his apartment balcony. He is now in prison (there is an article about the sad end to her life below). But Tynesha should be remembered not for the end of her short life but for how she affected others. The article (below) about her celebration of life captures the true nature of her existence. She was remembered for her "electrifying smile," salty spirit and dogged determination to succeed.
07/10

1987

Birthday

July 10, 1987

Birthdate

Galveston, Galveston County, Texas United States

Birthplace

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Ethnicity & Family History

African-american
Nationality & Locations

Texas
Early Life & Education

Graduate of Nimitz High School and a student at Texas A & M University at the time of her murder.
03/15

2007

Death

March 15, 2007

Death date

Choking and dismemberment

Cause of death

Harris County, Texas United States
Death location

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Tynesha Devonna Stewart lived 53 years shorter than the average family member when died at the age of 19.

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7 Memories, Stories & Photos about Tynesha

Jodie Mosley

20 favorites

01/23/2022

Rip

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Jodie Mosley

20 favorites

01/23/2022

🕊️💔💔💔💔💔🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿

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Jodie Mosley

20 favorites

01/23/2022

Rip. May all of. The great good works deeds things u have done spk fr u always I saw. Your. Heartbrkg story. Justice. Served🙏🏿💔💔💔💔🕊️🕊️

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Kathy Pinna

32.7k+ favorites

10/22/2020

Tynesha Devonna Stewart

A photo of Tynesha Devonna Stewart shared on Find A Grave

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Kathy Pinna

32.7k+ favorites

10/22/2020

Tynesha Devonna Stewart

High school graduation photo of Tynesha Stewart.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Kathy Pinna

32.7k+ favorites

10/22/2020

Houston Chronicle, original article April 2007 - updated August 9, 2011

About 1,000 people on Saturday celebrated the life of Tynesha DeVonna Stewart, a 19-year-old Texas A&M student who was remembered for her "electrifying smile," salty spirit and dogged determination to succeed.

Ken Knippel, the principal of Nimitz High School, where Stewart graduated from last year and the site of the memorial service, said the honors student was serious about her future.

"I have had millions of interactions with thousands of kids, and I can honestly tell you I have never met a more determined graduate," he said. "She had a plan. She did something each and every day to reach her goals."

And, Knippel said, laughing, she was good at reminding school officials of what they needed to do at their end to help her get to college.

Stewart, a freshman engineering student, was killed on March 15 while home for spring break. Her ex-boyfriend, Timothy Wayne Shepherd, confessed to choking her, investigators say. He is charged with murder. Investigators believe he dismembered her body and burned the parts on two barbecue grills.

The service was punctuated with gospel music, laughter and tears as family, friends and educators recalled a dynamic young woman who got herself noticed.

Tonya Driver, of A&M's department of multicultural affairs, remembered the first time she met Stewart, last year while at Nimitz to talk with students. Driver waited in the library as an announcement summoned interested students to the gathering.

"Tynesha was the first one there," Driver said, laughing. "She got there before the announcement was finished."

The coach of the Nimitz girls basketball team, Debbie Jackson, who has coached some of Stewart's "very athletic" siblings, said that she once was confused as to why Stewart wanted to manage the team instead of play on it.

"I asked her why she wasn't going out for the team," Jackson said. "Tynesha said, 'Oh, no, Coach. I don't like to sweat.' "

Crying, Jackson said she missed Tynesha's giggling in the halls and her "go-getter" spirit.

"She wasn't going to wait for something to happen," said Jackson, who after Stewart's killing urged basketball team members to examine their relationships and make sure they were spending time with people who supported their dreams.

Jackson read comments from other educators, one of whom said: "She did wear the drama queen crown ... she thought it was the end of the world if she didn't understand something."

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Kathy Pinna

32.7k+ favorites

10/22/2020

The Charley Story website last updated March 23 2018

Details of Disappearance
Stewart was a freshman at Texas A&M University in College Station at the time of her disappearance, studying civil and chemical engineering. She was home for spring break when she vanished from Houston, Texas on March 15, 2007.

Her ex-boyfriend, Timothy Wayne Shepherd, said he last saw her at his second-floor residence in the Red Oak Place apartment complex in the 17700 block of Red Oak Drive off F.M. 1960. A photograph of Shepherd is posted with this case summary.

Stewart was reported missing on March 19 and police went to Shepherd's apartment to question him. He said they'd gotten into an argument between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. on March 15 and Stewart walked out of his apartment angrily, carrying a cellular phone, and this was the last time he had seen her.

Shepherd and Stewart had a volatile relationship with many arguments, and she was reportedly afraid of him. They began dating when she was a sixteen-year-old high school junior. Her loved ones describe him as jealous, possessive and controlling of her. At one point Stewart told her sister Shepherd had choked her and threatened her life.

During Stewart's first semester at college, Shepherd called her several times a day. She began seeing someone else while she was at college, and Shepherd stopped contacting her for awhile after the end of the first semester.

However, by February 2007, he was calling her regularly again and Stewart said she was afraid to go home to Houston for spring break because she thought Shepherd might follow her around. In spite of her reservations, however, Stewart came home and made plans to spend the time with friends.

Early on the morning of March 15, Shepherd had picked up Stewart from the apartment of one of her female friends. She left her cellular phone behind with her friend and said she would return later that day. She never came back, and never showed up for a concert she planned to go to.

Her younger sister was the last person to speak to her; they spoke at about noon on March 15 and Stewart said she was Shepherd. She has never been heard from again. Shepherd never bothered to participate in the subsequent search efforts.

On March 20, five days after Stewart was last seen, police asked Shepherd to come to the station for questioning. He consented to a search of his home and car.

When authorities checked his apartment, they discovered it had been cleaned with ammonia and bleach and some parts had been freshly painted. In spite of this, blood traces were found on the bathroom light switch, on the edge of the tub and at the base of the toilet.

Shepherd was questioned by the police and released. The next day, March 21, he spoke to Quanell X, a local community activist and the leader of the Black Panther Party in Houston.

Quanell X has a history of liaising between the police and the African-American community and had been involved in the search for Stewart. He met with Shepherd and the two men went to Shepherd's apartment, and Quanell X urged him to tell what he knew. Shepherd began crying and said he was afraid he would get the death penalty. Eventually he agreed to show Quanell X where he had put Stewart.

After a phone conversation with his attorney, Shepherd contacted the police and lead Quanell X and a police officer to a dumpster in a dumpster in the 14600 block of Ella Street and said he had placed Stewart's body there. No evidence could be recovered, however, as by then the dumpster had already been emptied.

He was then arrested, and confessed to Stewart's murder after he got back to the station. He said he'd strangled her during an argument, put her body in a plastic tote bag and left it in the dumpster. Following his arrest, Shepherd made an unsuccessful attempt at suicide.

Authorities came to believe Shepherd didn't put Stewart's body in the Ella Street dumpster and instead dismembered it and burned it on two barbecue grills on his balcony.

Shepherd owned one of the grills; the other belonged to a neighbor and friend who grilled at Shepherd's apartment so often that he just kept the grill there. They normally shared each other's barbecued food, but when Shepherd's neighbor noticed him grilling and asked about it, Shepherd said he was making food for a wedding and could not share.

Neighbors noticed an offensive smell and thick black smoke coming from the burners and saw Shepherd barbecuing day and night, which was uncharacteristic of his behavior. Although it was cool outside, Shepherd had his patio door and all the windows open, fans running inside his apartment, and the air conditioner on.

Someone called 911 on the evening of March 16 after the flames from the grills almost touched the roof of the balcony, but when police and firefighters arrived, Shepherd told them everything was fine.

He reluctantly allowed a police officer and a firefighter inside the apartment. They did not see a fire but they noticed several pieces of meat, including rib bones, floating in the bathtub and some burned meat chunks, one of which was still smoking, on the stove in the kitchen. Neither of them saw anything they considered strange.

During this period, neighbors also heard Shepherd's bathtub faucet running continuously for two days and his garbage disposal running for several minutes at a time, long enough for the neighbors to notice and think it was unusual.

A day or two after the police and firefighters came to his apartment, a neighbor saw Shepherd carrying a grill and smoker to a nearby trash bin. Both grills were later found to be missing from Shepherd's balcony and his neighbor never saw his own grill again.

When police checked Shepherd's garbage disposal after his arrest, they found fragments of bone and tooth enamel. Burned bone fragments with cut marks on them were also found under Shepherd's patio. They were too small or badly burned to yield DNA or even for it to be certain they were human.

At Shepherd's trial in October 2008, he claimed he strangled Stewart after she attacked him with a knife. His attorney argued it was a crime of passion and he should be sentenced to no more than 20 years in prison. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to the maximum term of 99 years in prison.

Stewart is one of six children and grew up in the Aldine, one of the poorest communities in the Houston area. Her father died when she was six.

She graduated from Nimitz High School in the top ten percent of her class, managed the girls' basketball team and participated in other extracurricular activities, as well as working part-time from her freshman year onward. In 2005, she was one of fifteen students out of hundreds of applicants to win a scholarship for Houston-area students from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds.

Foul play is suspected in her case due to the circumstances involved.

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Tynesha Stewart's Family Tree & Friends

Tynesha Stewart's Family Tree

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Tynesha Devonna Stewart Jul 10, 1987 - Mar 15, 2007

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Tynesha's Friends

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Other Biographies

Other Stewart Family Biographies

Stewart, Ardella (Born Aug 31, 1844) Stewart, Artellia (Born Nov 24, 1845) Stewart, Leonard (Born Oct 31, 1840) Stewart, Rowena (Born Mar 29, 1878) Stewart, Samuel (Born Mar 9, 1822) Stewart, Ethel (Born Jul 31, 1879) Stewart, F.a. (Born May 16, 1827) Stewart, Bessie (Born Dec 22, 1889) Stewart, Jacob (Born 1861) Stewart, Charles (Born Apr 1, 1872)

Stewart-Maness, Angela (Born Jun 17, 1973) Stewart, Mitchell (Born Jan 17, 1976) Stewart, William (Born Mar 18, 1868) Stewart, Fred (Born Nov 9, 1894) Stewart, Clara (Born Nov 24, 1897) Stewart, Alice (Born May 23, 1868) Holcomb, Fredna (Sep 21, 1914 - Mar 31, 2003) Stewart, Liell (Born 1890) Stewart, Rebecca Stewart, Celia (Born Aug 13, 1855)

About the AncientFaces Community

Tynesha Devonna Stewart 1987 - 2007

Tynesha Devonna Stewart's History: 1987 - 2007

Introduction

Birthday

Ethnicity & Family History

Nationality & Locations

Early Life & Education

Death

7 Memories, Stories & Photos about Tynesha

Tynesha Stewart's Family Tree & Friends

Tynesha Stewart's Family Tree

Tynesha's Friends

Other Stewart Family Biographies