Left: Bobbie Mitchell (Denton County). Right: Mitchell Reinacher (Lewisville Jail).
A well-known and trailblazing Texas politician and her husband were stabbed by their grandson during a violent altercation at their home near Dallas early Monday morning, authorities say.
Bobbie J. Mitchell, a Denton County commissioner, survived the attack but her husband Fred Mitchell succumbed to his injuries, according to the Lewisville Police Department. The couple’s 23-year-old grandson Mitchell Blake Reinacher was arrested and stands accused of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
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Cops received a call about an assault in progress shortly before 4 a.m. Monday at a home in the 1000 block of Springwood Drive in Lewisville, a city in the northwest part of the greater Dallas area. When the first responding officer arrived, he could hear screaming coming from inside, Lewisville Police Chief Brook Rollins told reporters at a press conference. The officer rushed into the home and found Reinacher and took him into custody.
The Mitchells were in the home suffering from stab wounds and they were transported to local hospitals.
Bobbie Mitchell is in stable condition but doctors pronounced her husband dead around 5 a.m. Rollins said police are still trying to establish a motive and what led up to the incident. Reinacher lived at the home with his grandparents.
Bobbie Mitchell became the first Black mayor of Lewisville in 1993 and served in the position until 2000, when she became a county commissioner, her online biography said. Her district includes Lewisville and the surrounding areas.
Lewisville Mayor TJ Gilmore said Bobbie Mitchell should make a full recovery.
“There is a long road of recovery,” Gilmore told reporters at the press conference. “We are getting news that Commissioner Mitchell is recovering and we’re pleased on that, but we are saddened, deeply saddened at the loss of her husband, Fred Mitchell. If anybody has ever been at a public event where Bobbie Mitchell has prayed over you, you know that she does an amazing job. Well, now it’s time for the community to give back. So any time that you have over the next couple of days or weeks to uplift Bobbie and the family, please do so.”
Reinacher is the son of the Mitchells’ daughter. The Mitchells’ also have a son, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
The suspect remains at the Lewisville jail. It wasn’t clear if he had retained an attorney or when his next court appearance is scheduled. A probable cause arrest affidavit was not immediately available.
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