Lindsay Velasquez’s husband, also a district employee, faces a manslaughter charge in Benbrook.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Students and staff at a Fort Worth elementary school are mourning an assistant principal who was shot at home, while her husband faces a manslaughter charge in the off-campus killing.
Lindsay Velasquez, 42, was a campus administrator at Luella Merrett Elementary School and a mother of three daughters. Her death on April 17 has shaken two connected communities: the residential block in Benbrook where police responded to the shooting and the Fort Worth ISD campus where she helped lead student recognition programs. Her husband, 39-year-old Alberto Velasquez, was arrested at the scene and later released on bond.
At Luella Merrett, Lindsay Velasquez was known publicly through the routines of school life. Her campus biography said she was in her second year as assistant principal and brought positive energy to the school. It said she worked hard for families, teachers and students, and helped continue programs that honored outstanding students, perfect attendance and weekly Super Bees of the Week. Those details became part of how the school community described the loss after police identified her as the woman fatally shot in Benbrook.
The school district responded with a statement that named the shooting as a tragedy but kept clear boundaries around the facts known to the district. Fort Worth ISD said the incident did not happen on a district campus and that there was no ongoing threat to students or staff. “We are deeply saddened by this loss, and our thoughts are with the family and all those impacted,” the district said. It also said counselors and support staff were being made available at affected campuses.
The emergency call came from outside the school setting. Benbrook police and fire personnel were sent at about 7:26 p.m. April 17 to a home in the 1000 block of Sproles Drive after a report that someone had been accidentally shot in the face. When officers arrived, they found Lindsay Velasquez unconscious with an apparent gunshot wound. She was taken to Harris Methodist Hospital in downtown Fort Worth and later pronounced dead. Police have not publicly described the full sequence inside the home before officers arrived.
Alberto Velasquez was arrested after what police described as an on-scene investigation. Jail records and local reports identified the charge as manslaughter and listed a $35,000 bond. He later posted bond and was released from custody. Property records reviewed by local news outlets identified Alberto Velasquez as Lindsay Velasquez’s husband. Fort Worth ISD confirmed that both were district employees. Local reports described Alberto Velasquez as a social studies teacher certified for middle and high school grades.
The medical examiner’s finding added a formal record to the case. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office identified Lindsay Grace Velasquez and determined that she died from a gunshot wound to the head. The death was ruled a homicide. In death investigations, homicide means death caused by another person. It does not alone determine whether the act was murder, manslaughter, an accident or another legal category. That legal question now sits with police, prosecutors, defense attorneys and the courts.
The family’s public words centered on Lindsay Velasquez’s daughters and her relationships. A fundraiser created after her death said her loss would be felt most deeply by the children who would move forward without their mother’s presence, guidance and love. The family wrote that Lindsay had a rare way of making others feel seen and cared for. The message did not focus on the accused man or the legal case. It focused on the children, funeral costs and the sudden hole left in the lives around her.
Her obituary placed her career in a longer story of education work. Before becoming an assistant principal, Lindsay Velasquez taught English at Carter-Riverside High School and Stripling Middle School. The obituary said she believed in knowledge, encouragement and leadership, and that she used those values to help young people succeed. It described her as patient and encouraging in the classroom, and as an educator whose influence reached beyond lesson plans and school walls.
The criminal case now carries serious possible consequences. Under Texas law, manslaughter covers a death caused recklessly. It is generally a second-degree felony, punishable by two to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 if a defendant is convicted. The charge does not mean a conviction has been reached. Alberto Velasquez is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Prosecutors will have to show more than the fact of a fatal shooting. They will have to prove the required mental state under the statute.
Several facts remain outside the public record. Authorities have not said what kind of firearm was used. They have not said whether the couple’s children witnessed any part of the incident or were inside the home. They have not said whether there had been previous police calls to the residence, whether investigators recovered video or audio evidence, or whether a detailed statement from Alberto Velasquez has been filed publicly. Police also have not released a full explanation of why the first report described the shooting as accidental.
Those unknowns matter because they separate grief from proof. The school community can mourn based on what it knew of Lindsay Velasquez as an educator, while the criminal system must move through evidence. Investigators may examine the gun, the room where the shooting occurred, the path of the bullet, emergency call recordings, statements from people at the home and any digital records that could clarify timing. Prosecutors may also review whether the facts support the charge filed or any different charge.
In Benbrook, the address on Sproles Drive became the starting point of a case that quickly moved into county records and district statements. In Fort Worth, the name of Lindsay Velasquez became part of a school’s loss. The two settings are now linked by a single night: a report of an accidental shooting, a hospital death, an arrest and a community trying to understand the death of a woman known to students as an assistant principal.
The next public step is expected through the Tarrant County court process, where charging documents, hearing dates or prosecutor filings may add detail. Until then, the official record remains narrow: Lindsay Velasquez is dead, Alberto Velasquez is charged, and police say the investigation remains active.
Author note: Last updated May 18, 2026.