Casie Lynn Graves, a 38-year-old mother of four, was strangled and left near railroad tracks in Orange in 2023.
ORANGE, Texas — A family that spent more than a year waiting for answers saw Derek Lennon Bradley convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing Casie Lynn Graves, a mother of four whose body was found near railroad tracks.
Graves’ death left four daughters without their mother and drew public pleas from relatives who described her as loving, lively and devoted to her children. Bradley, 47, shared two children with Graves and had been in a relationship with her for several years. Prosecutors said he strangled Graves in September 2023, moved her body to an industrial area in Orange and later tried to remove GPS evidence from his truck.
Before the case reached trial, Graves’ family spoke of grief that had not settled into answers. Vickie Graves, Casie’s mother, said after Bradley’s arrest that she felt empty and did not know where to go from there. She also described seeing her daughter shortly before the killing and called her kindhearted. Graves’ brother said the family wanted justice and closure. “You’re just really wanting justice,” he said in an interview while the case was pending. The words came before jurors heard the evidence that would later lead to Bradley’s conviction.
Graves was found Sept. 16, 2023, near the former International Paper facility on Highway 87. Authorities said an employee discovered the body near railroad tracks while arriving for work shortly before 3:45 p.m. The location was not a home, a school or a public square. It was an industrial area tied to traffic, rail lines and shift work. Deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office responded, secured the scene and identified the woman as Graves. A medical examiner later determined that she died by strangulation.
The discovery pushed investigators into a case with no immediate public arrest. Graves’ family waited through the first weeks, then months. Authorities reviewed video and interviewed witnesses. Prosecutors later said surveillance footage showed Bradley’s truck leaving his residence at about 12:30 a.m. on the morning Graves died, going toward the area where the body was later found and returning at about 12:57 a.m. The gap was less than 30 minutes, but prosecutors said it mattered because it fit the location and timing of the body’s placement.
Another detail moved the case forward. Investigators learned that Bradley had contacted a mechanic and asked about removing the GPS capability from his truck. Prosecutors said that request became a key fact because it pointed investigators toward the vehicle as a possible source of evidence. With witness interviews and video in hand, authorities obtained search warrants for Bradley’s home and vehicle. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office led the investigation, and the Texas Rangers assisted. Prosecutors later told jurors that the collected evidence helped connect Bradley to the killing.
A grand jury heard the case in September 2024, about one year after Graves’ body was found. Bradley was indicted on a murder charge and arrested the next day. For Graves’ relatives, the arrest was not the same as an ending. Vickie Graves said at the time that she still felt lost and broken. Bradley remained jailed while the case moved toward trial. Public reports said his bond was set at a high amount, though local accounts differed on the exact figure. The charge carried the possibility of a long prison term if jurors found him guilty.
The trial began in late April 2026 and lasted six days. Assistant District Attorney Bard Anderson prosecuted the case for the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. District Attorney Krispen Winfree later said the state presented surveillance video, witness testimony and evidence collected during searches of Bradley’s home and truck. Jurors also heard about Bradley’s attempt to have the GPS system removed. The defense’s full theory was not detailed in public reports after the verdict, and authorities did not release a complete list of all evidence shown to the jury.
On May 5, jurors found Bradley guilty of murder. They then decided his punishment: 30 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The sentence was shorter than life but long enough to mark Bradley as the person legally responsible for Graves’ death. It also turned the family’s public calls for answers into a court record. The verdict did not bring Graves back to her children, but it ended the question of whether a jury would accept the state’s case. The loss remains rooted in the details of Graves’ life outside the courtroom. She was 38, had four children and was remembered by family as a woman who could change the mood in a room. Her two youngest girls were reported to be younger than 6 when she died. Her relationship with Bradley, once tied to family life and children, became the center of a murder case. Prosecutors framed that relationship as part of the reason Bradley was close enough to Graves to kill her and then try to cover his tracks.
Officials said the case required patience because the evidence had to be built from video, interviews, warrants and forensic findings. The body’s discovery gave investigators the where. The autopsy gave them the how. The truck footage gave them a possible timeline. The GPS request gave them a sign that Bradley may have known his vehicle could tie him to the scene. Together, prosecutors said, those facts were enough for jurors to convict.
Graves’ family had no further court date publicly listed in the reviewed reports, but any appeal or post-trial filing would continue through the court system. Bradley’s conviction stood as of May 27, 2026, and he was sentenced to 30 years in state prison.
Author note: Last updated May 27, 2026.