Dallas police need help solving 2019 murder of Sheila Prater

DALLAS - The Dallas Police Department is looking for the public's help to solve the 2019 murder of Sheila Prater.

Three years after a jury found the original suspect in the case not guilty, the case has remained cold. 

Her daughter says her mom deserves justice, and she is urging whoever knows what happened to come forward. 

On March 3, 2019, at 10:32 p.m., Dallas police did a welfare check on 45-year-old Sheila Prater. She lived alone on the 3400 block of Keyridge Drive near Paul Quinn College. Police say they found her dead in her home from homicidal violence. 

Tuesday, Dallas police asked the public again for help to solve the murder.

Prater's daughter, Tiara Jones, says her mother deserves justice. 

"All I've been asking is what happened to my mom. I can't get closure until I know what happened to her," she said. "I have to celebrate Mother's Day alone, her birthday alone. I have to talk to her in dang dirt rather than see her face."

Soon after the murder, Dallas police arrested and charged Prater's boyfriend, Victor Williams. Police said they had a history of domestic violence.

"It was all focused on Victor instead of let’s look at everything, every detail," Jones said.

Jones says she was frustrated that police at the time never talked with her. Prater's only daughter. 

"Nobody reached out to me at all," she said. "I left voicemails for years."

In 2021, a jury found Williams not guilty of the murder. Since then, no other suspects have been named. 

"I feel like it is time for me to be heard, the public to get this case back up and justice to be served for my mom," Jones said.

Jones says for the first time, she's felt listened to by Dallas Police Sgt. Otha Hampton.

"He not only heard me; he listened to everything I had to say," she said. "I feel like God is about to bring justice to my mama."

Anyone with information on Prater’s death is urged to contact Sgt. Hampton at (214) 671-3654 or by email at coldcase.dpd@dallaspolice.gov.