Authorities are investigating the double homicide of a mother and daughter in Camden County, Missouri as a anti-LGBT hate crime, according to Camden County Sheriff’s Office.
Teresa Jackson, 61, and her daughter Danielle Smith, 27, were found dead in the remains of their burnt trailer home on August 29th. Autopsies confirm they were both killed before their home was set on fire. On September 3rd their neighbor, 54-year-old Steven Endsley was arrested for their murders and arson.
Witnesses told police Endsley had an “ongoing disagreement” with Smith about her sexual orientation and for that reason, local police and the FBI are investigating their murders as a hate crime.
Endsley was charged with six felony charges: two counts of the Class A Felony of 1st Degree Murder, two counts of Felony Armed Criminal Action, one count of the Class B Felony of 1st Degree Burglary, and one count of the Class C Felony of 2nd Degree Arson. He is being held without bond and will appear before the court on October 4th. If found guilty of a hate crime, Endsley faces even harsher penalties.
A local Missouri news website, LakeExpo.com, who obtained court documents, reported Endsley sent a series of anti-gay texts in the hours before the women were killed. They also report Endsley had a troubled history with Jackson and Smith, with records showing deputies responding to disturbances at their homes multiple times. Dannielle’s sister Heather Smith told local TV news station KSPR that Endsley harassed her sister for months. “Nine months of him throwing fire crackers at her house or trailer, calling her names, even harassing her friends that would come and visit,” she says.
A GoFundMe page was setup by Heather Smith to help with funeral costs. They’ve raised half of their $6,000 goal. From the page:
Here we are, raising money for Danielle and Terri. We are saddened to have lost 2 amazing people that loved everyone. Danielle would always do what she could to help someone else, if she was able, without question. Our hearts are broken by the loss of Danielle and Terri. I am only asking people to help with what you can. I want to make sure they have a proper service. As her sister, this is the last thing I thought I would have to do. As her sister, I want to make sure that she and Terri are taken care of properly. Thank you for any help that you can give.
UPDATE Sept. 13th, 2:55 PST: The article has been updated to reflect that Danielle Smith identified as bisexual and not lesbian as the headline originally stated. From Lake News Online: “Statements given by friends to investigators said Danielle ‘lived a bisexual lifestyle.’ That seemed to be the catalyst for the harassment.”
This is so devastating. Did anyone have any trouble donating on the GoFundMe page? I couldn’t get past the first page.
When I donated, it looked like the GoFundMe page got stuck after I submitted it, but a confirmation came through to my email and it worked. This is so deeply sad and the extra hard part of what it costs afterwords – so worth helping at least relieve a bit of that.
the links you provided us with describe Danielle as a bisexual woman.. please correct this.
may they rest in peace.. i am so sad for what they had to go through..
every source i found so far describes her as a bisexual woman. please fix this.
thank you for commenting. i couldn’t find anything to confirm if she identified as lesbian or bisexual, because i found multiple sources saying she id’ed as lesbian and only one that said she was bisexual so i went with the word lesbian. i tried again and i found a different source that i didn’t see when i was writing this that confirmed from court documents and friends saying she was bisexual. i’ll correct this error.
thank you yvonne
I’m still not sure why this hasn’t gained more national momentum…hell, or even regional momentum. This whole story is absolutely horrific. I live about an hour and a half away (shudder) and people around here like to posit Missouri as part of the South but not as bigoted (toward gays…they gave up trying to pretend Missouri’s not racist). And honestly, as someone who lived in an actual Southern state for a long ass time, neither are true. Homophobia and in this case, the interlaced misogyngy and male entitlement, is alive and well. I think it also, like so many other tragic cases, legitimizes that for the marginalized, verbal harassment and verbally expressed bigotry is dangerous and worthy of fear. Ughhhhhhh.
I hope some semblance of justice is found, and some semblance of peace.
God this is awful. It’s always hard to read this kind of stuff, but I am a bisexual woman in Missouri and that just makes it harder. I hate this world sometimes.
Not too far from where an Ex lives. I was never comfortable in the area. Never lived there. Never would. I’m just sick of us dying and straight people worrying more about… basically any issue ever.
This is so so horrifying. I can’t even imagine what justice would look like but I will pray for it.
When I view AS on my phone and I see a smiling candid looking picture of a woman, a especially a black woman, loading up on the page I do this thing, this very childish thing before I scroll down.
I whisper, “Don’t be dead, please don’t be dead. Be alive and winning a thing or something, please don’t be dead.”
I stopped praying when I was 11, but that little whispered mantra what is it if not a prayer?
Anyone else’s hackles raised by the “bisexual lifestyle” quote?
bisexual people should be protect and respect
Why is there never any good news about Missouri ……….. RIP