A decade after Missy Bevers' killing, her family reflects on grief, milestones and love that carried them

EDITOR'S NOTE: It's been 10 years since a local mother was murdered in a Midlothian church one morning. Missy Bevers was preparing to lead a fitness class when she encountered the killer, dressed in tactical gear, inside the Creekside Church of Christ along Highway 287. The case gained national attention, generated thousands of tips, and sparked online theories and debates that continue even today. But a decade later, the question of who killed Missy Bevers remains unanswered. Recently, her husband and daughters sat down to talk about the loss, the pain, and public scrutiny that followed, and the love that has helped them survive it all.

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Inside their home, Missy Bevers' three daughters keep a small shrine – a few framed photos, including the only full family picture they have.

"All of us are pretty young in it," Allie Bevers said, pointing to the images. She laughed as she remembered one moment frozen in time. "Fun fact – in one of these photos, Sarah had just farted. She was laughing her butt off, and that's why everyone's smiling so wide."

The sisters say they don't usually sit together and talk about the sad parts.

"We normally talk about the happy things," Allie said.

But some days are harder than others.

"When I'm feeling overwhelmed or really missing Mom, I'll look at her Facebook," Allie said. "She was chronically on Facebook while we were growing up."

Sarah Bevers nodded.

"Oh, I do that all the time," she said.

Grief that arrives in unexpected moments

Even 10 years later, the grief can still surprise them.

Hannah Bevers remembered a recent Saturday when she ran into a friend and her mom at Target.

"It was such a nice day, and I got in the car and just started crying," Hannah said. "I forgot that people do that – hang out with their moms and go shopping."

Another photo on the shrine – Missy in her wedding dress – brought its own wave of emotion.

"Milestones are hard," Allie said, tearing up. "I want nothing more in my life than my mom at my wedding day. It'll be a happy day, but it'll also be really sad."

Hannah Bevers nodded.

"I'm dreading it," she said.

"Me too," Allie said.

Their father, Brandon Bevers, feels it too.

"It's going to be tough to endure a wedding ceremony without a mother," he said, his voice breaking.

Sisters who stepped into roles no children should have to fill

Brandon Bevers said he's proud of how his daughters held each other together in the years after Missy's death.

"For several years, those girls were kind of left to their own devices," Brandon said. "Allie was 15, and she set aside everything you'd expect a 15‑year‑old to feel. She took charge. She stepped into a motherly role when I couldn't."

Sarah Bevers remembered it clearly.

"When my mom passed, I was in second grade. Hannah dropped everything – she took me to school, picked me up, got me dressed. Everything," she said. "I wouldn't be where I am without them."

A husband navigating grief – and suspicion

Brandon Bevers said the trauma of losing his wife was compounded by public scrutiny.

"If you rewind to April 17, 2016, I was one person," Brandon said. "Then I wake up the next morning to a phone call that transported me to a totally different place."

He said the speculation that he might have been involved took him to "a dark place."

"I've always tried to do the right thing. And suddenly people think you had something to do with it," Brandon said. "For two or three years, you don't really know who you are."

Anger became his default emotion.

"I'm so angry," he said. "The anger overpowered the sadness. I never got a chance to grieve. The anger still exists, but the grieving… It's coming."

Finding strength in family

Through it all, Brandon Bevers said both his family and Missy's family kept them afloat.

"There's just no way we could have made it without them," he said.

Hannah Bevers believes the tragedy shaped them — painfully, but profoundly.

"I've always said I'm grateful for the experience, because it made us stronger people," Hannah said. "Was it hard and terrible and traumatic? Yes. But it made us who we are today – people who love with our full hearts."

Their father agreed.

"We're just ordinary people living in unordinary circumstances," Brandon said. "You figure out how to make it work, because at the end of the day, your kids are all that matter."