North Texas man charged with murder of ex-girlfriend

Denton police have arrested a suspect in the murder of a woman found in the shed of a vacant home in January.

Tommy Bays III was arrested Wednesday on murder charges at the Denton County Jail, according to a news release. The 39-year-old is reportedly linked to the death of 44-year-old Melonie Frye, his ex-girlfriend.

Frye’s body was discovered Feb. 17 by property management staff in a shed in the 900 block of Monterey Drive. In March, her death was ruled a homicide by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Bays had already been identified as a person of interest in Frye’s murder due to their previous relationship; however, his recent arrest came after forensic evidence allegedly linked him to the crime scene.

Jail records show Bays had a criminal history of burglary, domestic violence and drug possession.

The investigation is still ongoing and anyone with information that could help bring Frye’s killer to justice is asked to call Detective David Bearden at 940-349-7986 or Denton County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-388-TIPS ( 8477).

Last year, Denton, which currently has a population of about 159,609, had just seven criminal homicides, which was the same as in 2022. Meanwhile, Dallas, a city of nearly 1.3 million, recorded 246 homicides — a 15% increase from compared to the year before. according to data from the city’s crime analytics dashboard.

Although the number of violent crimes has decreased recently, several homicides have been recorded in Dallas in the past week, as detailed in The Dallas Express. Of the 72 criminal homicides reported this year as of May 8, 61 involved male victims, 40 of whom were black and 17 of whom were Hispanic.

The Dallas Police Department faces significant staffing shortages, with only 3,000 officers despite a city report recommending a police force of 4,000 to cover a jurisdiction the size of Dallas. This deficit is expected to continue as the Dallas City Council recently allocated just $654 million to DPD this fiscal year, which is significantly less than police budgets seen in other high-crime cities such as New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago. .