A 30-year-old man now faces a murder charge in the death of an elderly woman whose body was found in a wheelchair outside an Addison apartment.
Walter Portillo was arrested nine days after 82-year-old Joan Mulcahy was found dead July 1 outside her apartment, but he did not face criminal charges related to Mulcahy's death until this week, officials said.
Neighbors told WFAA in July that Mulcahy was well-known in the apartment complex on Westgrove Drive.
“I'd see her all the time, she'd wheel out to the street on the sidewalk, just kind of enjoy the day,” neighbor Tim Turner said in July.
After Mulcahy's death, witnesses described the suspect for a sketch artist. They saw a man "lingering in the breezeway" outside Mulcahy's apartment, officials said.
One witness told investigators that the man in the police sketch had followed her to her car a few blocks from the apartment where Mulcahy was killed.
Surveillance video showed the suspect, and police identified the killer as Portillo, who was already in jail at that time, officials said.
During police interviews, Portillo admitted he killed Mulcahy, according to Addison police.
Portillo is a citizen of El Salvador, jail records show. He is held in the Dallas County jail in lieu of $705,000 bail.
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