March 29, 2023
(McKinney, Texas) – District Attorney Greg Willis announced that Lawrence Edward Bell, 48, of Dallas, Texas, was sentenced to 99 years for Murder after a jury found him guilty. “My office is grateful for DART’s thorough and tireless search for this murderer, so that we could then bring him to justice. The victim did not know his killer and did nothing to provoke him. Bell deserves a lifetime and more behind bars,” said Willis after sentencing.
On March 18, 2022, at 6:12 A.M., police were dispatched to a shooting on a DART rail train at the City Line/Bush Station. Train surveillance footage showed an individual pull a firearm from his coverall pocket and shoot the victim prior to exiting the train. He was wearing brown coveralls, tan boots, a blue hoodie, COVID mask, a green beanie, and a black backpack. The victim was transported to Medical City Plano and later died from his injuries.
DART Police Department Detective Eric Carlson investigated the case. He went to the scene and located a single spent .45 caliber cartridge casing. DART PD began watching additional surveillance footage from early that same morning and prior evening. Officers located footage of the suspect with his face coverings removed. Based on the suspect’s movements across multiple trains and platforms throughout the night leading up to the murder, Carlson believed the suspect might be homeless. An employee at The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center in Dallas identified the suspect as Lawrence Bell.
DART PD continued to search for Bell in the days after the murder and ultimately located Bell at a DART station on April 1st, 12 days after the murder. Bell was wearing the exact same clothing used in the murder. Officer Cory Neal detained Bell and found a .45 caliber handgun in the chest pocket of his coveralls. Ballistics comparison conducted by firearms examiner Richard Rotella, with the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Science, determined that the single cartridge casing found at the crime scene was fired from Bell’s firearm.
The jury found Bell guilty of murder. During punishment, prosecutors presented evidence that Bell previously served 11 years in prison for an Aggravated Robbery committed in 2000 and the jury heard testimony from that victim. Additionally, the jury heard that Bell had been previously convicted for felony Manufacture or Delivery of Cocaine, and misdemeanor Unlawful Carrying of a Weapon, Theft, and Forgery, all out of Dallas and Denton counties. The jury sentenced Bell to 99 years in prison.
Judge George Flint presided over the case.
Assistant Criminal District Attorneys Taylor Reese and Nick Lawrance prosecuted the case, assisted by District Attorney Investigator Laurie Gibbs, Victim Assistance Coordinator Niccole Frazier and Legal Secretary Jaimie Valliere.
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