By Jamie Landers and Alex Nguyen
Staff Writers
A Denton County commissioner was wounded and her husband was killed early Monday after police say they were stabbed by their grandson in their Lewisville home.
Officers responded shortly before 4 a.m. to reports of an assault in progress at the home in the 1000 block of Springwood Drive. There, police found Denton County commissioner Bobbie J. Mitchell and her husband, Fred Mitchell with apparent stab wounds.
Both were taken to the hospital, where Fred Mitchell, 75, died soon after, police said. Bobbie Mitchell, 76, was listed in stable condition.
Police identified the suspect as the couple’s 23-year-old grandson, Mitchell Blake Reinacher. He was still at the home when officers arrived and was taken into custody without incident, police said.
Reinacher was later booked into the Lewisville jail, and faces charges of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
It was not immediately clear what led to the attack.
At a news conference Monday afternoon, Lewisville Mayor TJ Gilmore said he visited Bobbie Mitchell in the hospital on Monday morning, and he expects her to make a full recovery.
Gilmore described Fred Mithell as a quiet but supportive husband who believed he had “married up.”
“He was always there for Bobbie and the two of them were just such a dynamic couple,” Gilmore said. “She was the energy, but he was the power battery in the background, just making sure everything was running as it was supposed to.”
Bobbie Mitchell was first elected to the Lewisville City Council in 1990, according to her biography on the city’s website. In 1993, she became the city’s first Black mayor, holding that office until resigning in January 2000 to run for the Precinct 3 post on the commissioners court.
“If anybody has ever been in a public event where Bobbie Mitchell has prayed over you, you know that she does an amazing job,” Gilmore said. “Now it’s time for the community to give back.”
In a statement, Lewisville police spokeswoman Rachel Roberts said news of the stabbing “will have a profound impact on our community.”
She said the city “stands united in rejecting violence and remains committed to justice, peace, and the safety of all who live and serve here.”
Following the announcement from the department, tributes from the community poured in on social media.
“My dear friend, colleague and mentor Precinct 3 Commissioner Bobbie J. Mitchell has suffered a huge tragedy this morning,” Denton County Judge Andy Eads wrote in a Facebook post. “I ask that you keep her and her family in your prayers as she recovers.”
Eads also called Fred Mitchell a longtime friend and said he will be greatly missed.
State Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, also called for prayers in his own Facebook post.
“Please join Leslie and me in prayer for Denton County’s most beloved public servant, Commissioner Bobbie Mitchell, as she attempts to recover from this attack while mourning the death of her husband, Fred,” Patterson said.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
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