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Trackdown: Help find Denise MacDonald’s killer
A Molotov cocktail hurled into a South Dallas home last month claimed the life of a 38-year-old woman. That unsolved homicide is the focus of this week's Trackdown.
DALLAS - A Molotov cocktail hurled into a South Dallas home last month claimed the life of a 38-year-old woman.
That unsolved homicide is the focus of this week's Trackdown.
The surveillance video is not the best, as it does not catch the suspect, only the burst of flames and some of the fire.
But Dallas Police Department Detective Chris Walton hopes it sparks someone's memory.
This happened just before 3:30 a.m. on September 13, at the corner of Bradshaw and Elsie Faye Heggins in South Dallas.
Two people were inside at the time, but only one of them was able to make it out.
Firefighters doused the flames, but that’s when the grim discovery was made that 38-year-old Denise MacDonald was dead in a back bedroom.
Police were told that there may have been an argument 30 minutes before the house was set on fire.
The surveillance camera across the street caught the moment of the explosion and fireball at the front of the house.
“We believe it was a Molotov cocktail which struck the residence, which caught it on fire,” Det. Walton said.
MacDonald, who was trapped in the house, died of smoke inhalation.
The other person who was inside the home called 911 after getting out.
“We're hoping that the community can assist us in this investigation so that way we can bring the MacDonald family some closure,” Det. Walton added. “Because the MacDonald family, they need comfort right now. Denise MacDonald, we're talking about a mother, a grandmother, someone’s daughter, someone’s sister. She didn’t deserve this. No one does.”
While cameras caught images of the blaze beginning, they didn’t catch the fire starter, who can only be seen running from the home.
“I need the community to come forward, the community that I know, the community that I was born and raised in. I know we can get this done together,” Det. Walton said.
Det. Walton is reaching out to those in the South Dallas community. You can also reach him at (214) 671-3632, or by email.
Crime Stoppers is also offering a reward.
Help track down who set the fire taking Denise MacDonald's life.