Overview
- A Tarrant County jury found 57-year-old Frederick Spears guilty of capital murder on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2026, and he was automatically sentenced to life in prison without parole after about 17 minutes of deliberation.
- Prosecutors said the killing took place Sept. 22, 2025, when Spears stabbed 53-year-old Mary Spears in the backyard of her Arlington home and her son later found her unresponsive.
- At trial prosecutors introduced evidence that Spears bought a knife and saw kit, which they called a “murder kit,” and waited in the yard before attacking, a key factor supporting premeditation.
- Days before the killing, Spears was arrested after a domestic disturbance and an emergency protective order barred contact, yet Arlington officers drove the bonded suspect to the victim’s house at his request and the department is reviewing that decision.
- The case was investigated by the Arlington Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, and a Tarrant County DA investigator, and the conviction is likely to increase scrutiny of police transport practices and protective-order enforcement.