In 1986, Sheila met Charles, the man who would become her husband. They got married and moved to Tennessee, where they raised two sons together.
Still, her best friend’s death continued to haunt her. In 1995, the introduction of DNA evidence in the murder trial of O.J. Simpson got Sheila thinking about the unsolved case.
Then, in 2004, she had a vision while she was reading passages in her bedroom for a Bible study. Angela appeared to her at the end of the bed with a smile on her face. The vision of her best friend encouraged Sheila to keep pushing forward to find answers.
She called the Dallas Police Department, pleading with them to reopen the case. Over the next several years, she called about 750 times. They had no interest in doing so and gave her the run-around.
Eventually, she was inspired to become a private investigator. She got her P.I. license and worked her way up to cold case murders.
Finally, a female detective was assigned to Angela’s case. She got DNA samples tested and traced them to a man named Donald Bess. At the time of Angela’s murder, he had been out on parole.
Bess was convicted for Angela’s murder and assault. He was sentenced to death by lethal injection. In 2022, he died in prison from a heart attack while awaiting his execution date.