Haltom City

Haltom City Resident Grieves Neighbor, Budding Friendship

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The Figueroa family is remembering Amber Tsai, who was killed Saturday in Haltom City, as a friend who had a full life ahead of her.

We’re learning more about the young woman killed in her home in Haltom City and the budding friendship between her and a neighbor that has now been cut short.

Mabel Figueroa said the bullets flew past her head Saturday. Once she got her footing and realized what was happening, she sent text messages to check on neighbors.

But when it came to her neighbor Amber Tsai, she felt she had to call.

“It hit me the shots are coming from her house. And so, I called her. She was the only neighbor I didn’t text. I called,” Figueroa said.

When she didn’t get an answer, she sent a text.

“When I texted this ‘praying you’re ok,’ I’m not going to lie, I knew she was gone because she would pick up her phone if I called her,” she said.

She’d learn the 32-year-old was shot and killed by Edward Freyman. Neighbors said Freyman was staying with Tsai at the time. The trauma of that day lingers.

“We woke up both in the middle of the night,” she said. “I was crying and reliving the sounds.”

But there’s also a feeling of significant loss. It’s the loss of a young neighbor – who, by all other accounts, kept to herself, except for the Figueroas, who would occasionally keep her dogs.

“She’s our daughter’s age; one of our daughter’s age, and definitely had a full life ahead of her and it hurts,” Figueroa said.

They were building a friendship that occasionally included sharing pictures of each other's pets. Around the neighborhood, blue ribbons decorate trees and mailboxes— a show of mourning for a tragedy that hit too close to home.

The Figueroas said they have spoken to Tsai’s family. They tell NBC 5 that Tsai’s grieving mother said she wants to meet the people who took her daughter under their wings.

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