Domestic Violence Advocate Murdered by Ex: Cops

Donna Alexander was an advocate for survivors of domestic violence, and she founded the Anger Room, a facility designed to alleviate stress by allowing people to destroy stuff safely. "At 14, she knew what she wanted to do. She was really adamant about domestic abuse and working to do something for the community," her father says, per the Dallas News. But in September, she was beaten to death. On Tuesday, her ex-boyfriend was indicted on murder charges in her killing, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. Nathaniel Mitchell, 35, brought Alexander to a Dallas hospital on Sept. 21; he initially said she had fallen in the shower, CBS DFW reports. But staff didn't believe his story, and he was arrested the same day; Alexander died on Sept. 24 of severe head injuries.

Alexander's sister says Mitchell banged on the door of Alexander's home, and when he was not let in, broke in through her bedroom window. Her young son and daughter "locked themselves in their rooms. They were afraid," her sister says. As they did so, police say Mitchell either hit her with an unknown object or pushed her, causing her to hit something. Alexander, whose Anger Room was featured on an episode of the Real Housewives of Dallas, had hoped to expand the business to other cities. Weeks before her death, Alexander explained that she was inspired to create the Anger Room after growing up in Chicago and seeing people go to jail after punching through walls. "We’re all born with anger," she said. "I just figured it was an alternative, a way to get rid of anger." (Elsewhere, a woman's body was found tied to an anchor. Her husband claimed suicide.)