Dallas police say two officers were dispatched to a disturbance call at an Oak Cliff apartment where a woman was later found dead, but the officers left after speaking with a man at the front door and not noticing anything amiss.
In a press conference Thursday afternoon, police provided an update in the investigation into the death of 28-year-old Ceaira Ford.
A training officer and an officer trainee responded to the apartment in the 2500 block of Perryton Drive just at about 11:15 p.m. Monday, police said.
There, they spoke with a man who answered the front door. Nothing in their conversation raised suspicions that a crime had taken place at that location, police said Thursday, and there were no signs of a disturbance in the home from their vantage point in the entryway.
Ford's body was found at the apartment after emergency crews were called there about 4 a.m. Wednesday.
While officers were at the apartment Wednesday morning, Jonathan Edelen, 34, allegedly made a statement indicating that he had killed Ford, his wife, Monday night.
Detectives then interviewed Edelen at police headquarters, and he allegedly admitted to them that he and Ford had had an argument, he wanted her to stop talking, so he suffocated her with a blanket and pillow.
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Edelen is charged with murder and remains jailed on a $1 million bond.
Friends and family of Edelen and Ford said they knew their relationship was troubled, but they never suspected it would end in an alleged murder.
"They argued 24/7," said Rodney Blackmon, a friend of Edelen's. "That was normal for eight years. I think he did snap. I really believe that."
Blackmon is the man who answered the apartment door when police came to check out a disturbance call.
"They [police] were like, 'We heard a disturbance in this area. Have you heard anything?' I was like, 'No sir. I was watching a movie, but I dozed off. You all just woke me up,'" recalled Blackmon. "They [police] were like, 'We apologize sir. Go ahead and enjoy your movie.'"
Dallas police are now looking more closely into that disturbance call.
"These officers came out from what they observed that a disturbance was not happening there, and they took the actions they did," said Dallas Assistant Police Chief Randy Blankenbaker. "We'll dig a little deeper when we do an internal affairs investigation to make sure their actions were appropriate."
Blackmon called Edelen a brother and said he was always a good man.
"He was always high spirited," said Blackmon. "But the last couple of days we could tell, like Saturday, everybody could tell something was wrong, something wasn't right, something was getting to him."
Ford's family is questioning why police didn't check the apartment during the first the disturbance call. As for the couple's two children, Ford's family says they are now staying with Ford's mother.
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