Sarah Ferguson is mourning the death of her former personal assistant, Jenean Chapman, who was shot and killed in Dallas earlier this week.
On Friday, the Duchess of York said she was “shocked and saddened” to learn of the tragedy.
“Jenean Chapman, who worked with me as my personal assistant years ago, was murdered in Dallas at the age of just 46. The suspect is in custody,” Ferguson wrote on Instagram.
The first slide in the post featured an old video of the ladies riding together in the backseat of a car. On the next slide, she included a photo of the victim smiling.
Sarah Ferguson and Jenean Chapman.
Sarah Ferguson/instagram
“Jenean was loyal, hardworking, beautiful and funny and my heart breaks for her family and friends,” Ferguson added of Chapman. She noted that the two spoke only “a few months ago” and that her former assistant “seemed so happy.”
Sarah Ferguson reflects on Princess Diana’s unique character and heart: ‘Nobody like her in the world’
“Her family is raising money to transport her body back to New York and pay for legal and funeral costs,” the Duchess of York continued.
Before ending the post, Ferguson shared that she would “donate and support the family in any way possible,” and that others could contribute by going to Chapman’s GoFundMe account. Ferguson added a link to the campaign in her Instagram bio.
According to Dallas morning news, University of Texas Police arrested James Patrick, 48, Tuesday night in Austin. He is now in custody in Travis County, the Dallas Police Department said.
Chapman’s body was found in a downtown Dallas apartment in the 1400 block of Elm Street around 1:15 p.m. Monday. The Dallas County medical examiner ruled her death a homicide, police said.
Patrick was booked into the Travis County Jail Tuesday night, according to online records. It was not immediately known if he had a lawyer. “He will be charged with murder,” police said.
Want to keep up with the latest crime reports? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for the latest crime news, coverage of ongoing trials and details on intriguing unsolved cases.
Crystal Marshall, one of Chapman’s three sisters, spoke to NBC5 DFW about losing her sibling.
“We’re just in shock and trying to pull ourselves together and gather all the information that’s missing,” Marshall said.
“I definitely feel blindsided,” another sister, Nicole Marshall, told NBC5 DFW. “We’re trying to be a support system for our mother, but this is a really tough time.”
According to family members, Chapman was new to the Dallas area and had only lived there for about five months for work.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(499x0:501x2)/Jenean-Chapman-09292339-2a14cb7c69214027b540ac841a858f47.jpg)
Jenean Chapman.
gofundme
“She’s received tons of accolades over the years, and then in her most recent role, she was the senior vice president at Critical Mass for digital marketing,” Marshall told NBC5. “Also, on a related note, she was going to start her own business.”
It was Chapman’s employer who alerted authorities after the 46-year-old failed to show up for work.
“It’s kind of an alarm that something’s wrong,” Marshall told NBC5.
“We were in constant contact with the detective and he informed us of the arrest,” Marshall said. “We are happy at this moment that the arrest has been made, but we will definitely not stop and we want the word to be spread”.
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall wants to end the ‘silence’ about domestic abuse
The sisters told NBC5 that Chapman and Patrick were married, had a “toxic” relationship and were not involved in their wedding. Her sisters said the two had been married for two months but had known each other for about six years.
Chapman is remembered by her loved ones as a “force to be reckoned with” and a “role model”.
“Her first job out of college was working with Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. So she worked with the royal family as a personal assistant, and then from there she worked at Def Jam, then she worked with the Simmons family,” Marshall told NBC5 .
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education