Boyfriend charged after North Texas mother found dead along I‑35E, police say
New details have emerged in the investigation of a North Texas mother and educator whose body was found along Interstate 35E in Carrollton last week.
Police have arrested and charged her boyfriend in connection with the killing.
Investigators found 41-year-old Vera Pitulic dead inside her car on July 21. Months earlier, social media posts showed the mother of two enjoying time with family and friends.
"Hearing that a woman's died at the hands of domestic violence is heartbreaking," said Tiffany Tate, CEO of The Family Place, a domestic violence nonprofit that serves women, men, and children across the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Carrollton police arrested Pitulic's boyfriend, 38-year-old Donny Benedict, on a murder charge. According to police, friends reported Pitulic missing on July 20 after not hearing from her for several days. An arrest affidavit says Pitulic and Benedict were last seen together two days earlier at a pool party, where friends told police the couple had argued. Investigators say Benedict accused her of cheating.
According to the affidavit, Benedict initially denied seeing Pitulic when questioned. After officers confronted him with video showing them together at the pool party, he told investigators they had argued but went their separate ways. Pitulic's body was found the next day, and police say evidence recovered at Benedict's home connected him to the crime.
A GoFundMe created by Pitulic's family said she was a victim of domestic violence. Originally from Serbia, her family wrote that their greatest wish is to bring her home to be laid to rest alongside loved ones.
Pitulic was a long-term substitute teacher with Grapevine-Colleyville ISD. The district said, "We extend our deepest sympathy to the family, friends, and coworkers of Vera Pitulic…Our thoughts are with all who are impacted by this tragedy."
Online records show Benedict has a prior domestic violence arrest in Collin County. He is being held at the Collin County jail.
Tate said domestic violence remains widespread and often goes unnoticed.
"It is not something that is foreign to us as a nation, but there's a lot of concern about the way that it's increasing. We hear more murders occurring every day," Tate said. "People are constantly looking for bruises and for black eyes and those kinds of things when hoping to identify domestic violence, but there's financial abuse, emotional abuse, religious abuse, and there are victims suffering in all of these areas every single day, and so the biggest takeaway is don't just look for the obvious."
CBS News Texas will provide updates as more information becomes available.
