More than two days after the body of a woman was pulled from a burning condo in Duncanville, police have made an arrest while they continue to investigate.
Police say the suspect, James Rias was caught returning to the scene of the crime and is now under arrest for murder in the shooting that included an apartment fire.
A woman, identified as Regina Phillips, was discovered in the burning condo with a gunshot wound to her head, Duncanville police said.
They initially had detained Rias in connection to her death, but refrained from calling him a suspect, instead referring to him as a person of interest.
Now, Rias is being held at Dallas County Jail on a $1 million bond.
The Fire Department stopped short of calling the apartment fire arson but says that is still part of the investigation. It is unclear whether the apartment was deliberately set on fire.
Stogner says Rias and Phillips had been in an argument before the shooting and that police investigated but did not file charges.
The family of Regina Phillips spoke out in an interview with our media partner NBC5. They revealed she had just celebrated her 55th birthday.
“I'm really numb,” said her youngest daughter Jessica Phillips.
She says she was close with her mother, and lived with her in the Duncanville condo that she was found in.
“In my room, in my bed. That hurts knowing who did it and I was around him, having conversations while my mom was at work, I don’t know, it’s just a different kind of hurt,” said Phillips.
The family revealed Rias was Regina Phillips' boyfriend.
“You just violated somebody. Not only have you messed up our lives. You messed up yours, as well,” said Regina’s sister Tasheana Brown.
“She loved us unconditionally and she showed us every day,” said Phillips.
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