Family of woman killed in East Austin want her killer found

AUSTIN, Texas - The family of a woman who was murdered in East Austin wants to know who killed her. 

Kelly Meazell, 35, was found dead Thursday, Jan. 9, in the parking lot of an apartment complex.

"She was a very caring, joyful person, she was always laughing and happy," Kelly Meazell’s half-sister, Katherine Stephens, said.

Stephens said she had just spoken with Meazell.

"She told me that she was packing her stuff, I guess she had found somewhere to finally go, to stay," Stephens said, "Just come to find out two days later that she had been murdered, it was just so unreal."

Meazell was found early Thursday morning in a pool of blood and signs of trauma around her neck. The person or people who killed her haven’t been caught.

"I want to get the people who are violent enough to do what they did off the streets so that this community is safe," Austin Police Homicide Detective Jason Jones said.

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"When they sleep, I hope they think about it, I hope they have nightmares of what they did to my sister," Stephens said.

Meazell was found in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Manor Road in East Austin. Her family said she was homeless, but that’s the area where she stayed.

"I know a lot of people knew her that way, I know she had a lot of friends, from what I've been told in that area, so I'm just begging, whoever it is, if you have to do it secretly and not out in the open, you know, please, please, please, please come forward," Stephens said.

"The challenging part of this investigation is that, for whatever reason, many people in that community are reluctant to provide us with information. For a variety of reasons, they're reluctant to come forward and speak with us. That's why we have the ability and availability for them to make an anonymous tip to us, to give us, provide information," Detective Jones said.

This is the second homicide this year in Austin. Both victims were homeless.

"A lot of people who are experiencing homelessness are a little, live a lifestyle that's possibly a little dangerous. They're drug users, they live out on the street and sometimes those incidents are connected to that lifestyle," Detective Jones said.

If you have any information to help in this investigation, call 512-974-TIPS.