Family raising funds for funeral expenses after woman found dead in boyfriend's closet

Through food, a North Texas family was simply doing what they could.

As they have since they were children, cousins of 27-year-old Corinna Johnson rallied behind the family's baby Saturday, braving rain outside of Arlington's Daiquiri Dash to sell tacos, brisket, and elote to help cover a funeral that came unexpectedly early.

"I think the circumstances of what happened are pretty horrendous. I don't think you can ever prepare for something like this in general,” said Anthony Gareau.

Early Monday morning, police found Johnson's body inside a bedroom closet at a Dallas apartment complex along Wheatland Road.

According to an arrest affidavit, she was wrapped in bedding and 'bludgeoned' to death.

Family photo

"It's just a vicious thing to read about when you realize that somebody can hurt somebody to that extent with their bare hands,” he said.

Gareau, a first cousin, said that amid their own grief, the family hopes to use their loss to shine a light on the dangers of domestic violence.

Police charge Johnson's boyfriend, 34-year-old Omar Lucio, with her murder after he confessed that 'he had to knock some sense into her.'

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“I think it's really important for people to be aware that those situations do exist and in the blink of an eye, it can happen to anybody,” said Gareau.

Saturday was one of several fundraisers organized by family, including a GoFundMe that was set up this week.

"I don't know them personally, but they are our store neighbors, and we wanted to help out in some kind of way,” said Mark Lee.

Strangers and friends have rallied not only to cover funeral expenses but also to hopefully offer some support for the 7-year-old son Johnson leaves behind.

Family said the little boy still doesn’t know that his mom is never coming home.

"I don't think we'll ever really push past this moment. You know, we're going to do the best we can,” said Gareau.

Lucio is being held on bonds totaling $1.5 million for murder and also for an unrelated case involving alleged street racing and a crash. Johnson’s family said the crash happened in November and also involved the young mother.

Online court records show Lucio has a lengthy criminal history dating back to 2007, including assault and rape cases out of Houston.