BRUTAL

She Reported Child Sex Abuse to Police. Nine Days Later She Was Dead.

Police believe Keysha Preston was killed in a motel room before being dismembered and stuffed in duffel bags.

In mid-November, Keysha Preston contacted Houston police with a disturbing allegation: A child in her family had confided to her about being touched inappropriately by Keysha’s estranged husband, and Keysha herself later witnessed some inappropriate touching.

Nine days later, the 41-year-old mother was dead, and police say her husband, Sean Dacko Preston, is responsible.

Preston was arrested Friday by Houston police and charged with murder. While Keysha’s body has not been found, police believe he killed her at a motel on Nov. 24 before dismembering her, stuffing her body in duffel bags and possibly using acid to destroy her remains, according to court documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

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While a police search warrant related to Keysha’s alleged murder do not mention the sexual assault case, she is mentioned in police documents in both cases—in the latter as a witness and the former as a victim.

When she reported the alleged molestation to police, Keysha told officers that she believed the child was “embellishing” at first, until she saw the abuse firsthand by Preston, whom she was in the process of divorcing.

Police interviewed Preston and he denied the accusation, saying that his wife liked to “call in false CPS reports in hopes to stop the divorce.”

But five days later, on Nov. 29, one of Keysha’s sons reported her missing after he said he received a chilling call from someone alleging that Preston had confessed to her murder.

The caller, who is not identified in the court documents, later spoke to police and said that Preston had asked him for “muriatic acid” and a “throw down vehicle”—which the person declined to provide.

Police believe Preston killed his wife on the day of Thanksgiving “by unknown manner and means.” CCTV footage obtained by police allegedly showed Preston entering a room at Motel King with a woman, later identified by Keysha’s mother as Keysha, on Nov. 24.

Preston was later seen leaving alone with bags that appear heavy, struggling to load them into his car. Investigators said he later returned with the bags appearing to weigh less. The woman was never seen leaving the room.

“He had a difficult time getting the suitcase or duffel bag on wheels down the stairs and had to use both hands to lift it into the trunk of the car,” the search warrant said.

The person whom Preston had asked to provide acid told police that Preston phoned him again that day, this time from a reservoir.

He met up with Preston, who had scratches on his face and said that his wife was “no longer a problem,” the caller told police, according to a search warrant obtained by the Houston Chronicle.

“If you don’t want to end up like Keysha then keep your mouth shut,” he allegedly told the person, according to the search warrant.