A man suspected of murdering a woman as she arrived to work allegedly wore Blackface makeup and other false identifiers to commit the crime.
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The Dallas Morning News reported Andrew Charles Beard created a disguise using a dark-brown shade of foundation and a fake beard to assume a new appearance for his violent crime. The 33-year-old allegedly shot and stabbed Alyssa Burkett, 24, as she entered her property manager job. According to an arrest warrant affidavit, witnesses described Beard, a white man, as Black.
Burkett died of a gunshot wound to the head and multiple stab wounds to the arms and torso. One witness said to have seen the suspect parked outside of the Greentree Apartments, where the victim was employed before he opened fire. The news outlet reported, other witnesses described a 6-foot-tall male wearing all black clothing and a face covering. Two bystanders said to police the suspect was a Black man after having viewed the side of his face.
The police searched Beard’s vehicle the day following the murder and found implicating evidence to the crime and the disguise. The Dallas Morning News detailed the discovery of a trash bag that contained a pair of bleach-soaked, cut-up work boots, a knife, and two bottles of dark liquid makeup. Another bag contained makeup wipes, stained with a brown hue, and a piece belonging to a makeup brush.
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An abandoned vehicle, suspected to have been purchased on Craigslist by Beard, also unearthed a dark hair with what appeared to be dried blood on it, as well as a fake beard that had what looked like dark brown makeup on the back. The news outlet reports police also uncovered tracking devices Beard allegedly used to stalk his victim.
According to The Dallas Morning News, Burkett’s mother and current boyfriend claimed she was scared Beard would cause her harm. In September, the two were entangled in a custody battle where Burkett took full-custody of the former couple’s one-year-old daughter. The current partner told police Beard always knew his girlfriend’s location. After a full search of the victim’s car, officers found a tracking device. Burkett’s boyfriend also had the electronic device on his own vehicle.
Before her murder, Burkett launched a now-deleted GoFundMe campaign to raise money for legal efforts in the custody battle.
“At this point, I am scared for my life and my daughter’s life. It has been made clear this man will do whatever it takes to cut me out of the picture and I’m worried that what is coming next will be worse,” she wrote on the webpage.
“I’ve lost hair, I’ve lost sleep, I can not focus on at my job or on my school work, I’ve had high blood pressure issues as well as other issues. I’ve contemplated making this post for two weeks as I have been afraid of what people would think of me and such an embarrassing attempt to come up with more cash for this lawyer but I decided I need to do whatever I can to fight for my daughter and our life.”
The child was not physically harmed and remains in custody of Child Protective Services. Beard is behind bars at the Dallas County jail.