Valerian O’Steen was 24 years old when he beat and tortured 26-year-old mother of two Marissa Grimes in his Fort Worth rental house, buried her in the crawl space beneath the floor, and lived above her body for ten days.
Valerian O’Steen | Pic Credit – Fort Worth Star Telegram
Last updated: November 6, 2025
Valerian O’Steen | The Murder of Marissa Grimes
Stats
- Offender: Valerian “Will” O’Steen (also reported as “Osteen” in some records)
- Victim: Marissa Grimes, 26, mother of two
- Location (crime): Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, USA
- Date of killing (offense date): February 13, 2022 (as reflected in case records)
- Body discovered: February 22, 2022
- Arrest on murder charge: Late February 2022
- Conviction: Capital murder (in retaliation for reporting domestic violence)
- Sentence: Death penalty
- Current status: On Texas death row – TDCJ No. 999638 (TDCJ Offender Page)
Classification & Characteristics
Valerian “Will” O’Steen is best classified as a retaliatory intimate-partner killer – a domestic abuser whose violence escalated from threats and restraint to torture and capital murder. Under Texas law, killing someone in retaliation for reporting you to law enforcement can elevate murder to capital murder, and jurors agreed that 26-year-old Marissa Grimes’ decision to call police in January 2022 was the act he could not forgive. Outwardly, he could pass for just another young North Texas man with a rough history and a string of prior offenses. On paper, he was out on bond, wearing a GPS ankle monitor, and ordered to have no contact with the woman he’d already terrorized. In reality, court documents and coverage show a man obsessed with punishing her for involving the courts and determined to make sure she never testified against him. (Oxygen)
Psychologically, O’Steen’s crime reflects the classic dynamics of coercive control pushed to their furthest, most brutal extreme. Weeks before the killing, he allegedly held Marissa in his Fort Worth home for days, threatened to kill her, and pointed a gun at her – a dry run for the final confinement still to come. When she tried to reclaim her life by packing a U-Haul and preparing to move to West Texas with her children, he responded with a level of violence that the medical examiner and reporters have repeatedly described as torture: broken ribs, a broken arm and nose, two black eyes, head lacerations, extensive bruising, and ultimately fatal blunt-force trauma to her head. (CBS Texas, Dallas Morning News)
His decision to bury her in a shallow grave under his rented pier-and-beam house, then sleep and eat above her body for about ten days, speaks to a chilling mix of denial, detachment, and contempt. (PEOPLE, Law&Crime)
In that sense, O’Steen fits a profile seen in some modern domestic-homicide cases: not a roaming serial predator, but a young, already-violent man for whom a protective order, bond conditions, and an ankle monitor were not enough to break his belief that he still owned the story. The system drew a line. He crossed it anyway. When the evidence was laid out, a Tarrant County jury concluded that the only punishment proportionate to his cruelty and future danger was death. (FOX 4)
Timeline of the Valerian O’Steen Case →
- Early January 2022 –
After a short relationship, O’Steen allegedly holds Marissa in his Fort Worth home for days, threatens to kill her, and points a gun at her. She manages to get a message to family, prompting a police response. (Oxygen) - January 9–10, 2022 –
He is arrested on domestic-violence charges, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful restraint, with Marissa as the victim. (Spectrum/AP) - January 13, 2022 –
He is released on bond despite prior convictions. The court orders him to have no contact with Marissa and to wear a GPS ankle monitor. (Oxygen) - January–February 2022 –
Prosecutors later say he continues to fixate on the case, complains about the charges and the monitor, and talks about killing her. (Law&Crime) - February 12, 2022 –
Marissa is packing a U-Haul to move to West Texas with her children. She drives to O’Steen’s Locke Avenue home in Fort Worth “just to say goodbye.” A neighbor later testifies that he sees O’Steen threaten her with a gun that night – the last time she is seen alive. (NBC DFW) - February 21, 2022 –
Her family reports her missing when she never arrives at her destination. Police find her U-Haul abandoned about a mile from O’Steen’s house. (Spectrum/AP) - February 22, 2022 –
Fort Worth officers execute a search warrant at his rental house. Evidence inside and under the home leads them to the crawl space, where they find Marissa’s body wrapped and buried in a shallow grave beneath the floor. (CBS Texas) - Late February 2022 –
O’Steen is arrested and charged with capital murder in Marissa’s death. (Oxygen) - 2022–2024 –
Pre-trial motions, bond revocation, and preparation for a death-penalty trial. His prior record, GPS issues, and domestic-violence history become part of the legal backdrop. (FOX 4) - May–July 2025 –
He files an original writ in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, generating a series of orders and a temporary stay, but the case ultimately proceeds toward trial. (Texas CCA Case Search – WR-96,713-01) - August 12, 2025 –
Death-penalty trial opens in Tarrant County’s 371st District Court. Jurors hear about the January domestic-violence incident, her planned move, the injuries, and the burial under the house. (NBC DFW) - September 22, 2025 –
The jury convicts him of capital murder in retaliation for Marissa’s report and sentences him to death. (CBS Texas, Dallas Morning News) - September 23, 2025 –
He is received onto Texas death row and listed under TDCJ No. 999638. (TDCJ Death Row Offender Info)
Case Summary
Valerian “Will” O’Steen and 26-year-old Arlington mother of two, Marissa Grimes, had not known each other long when their relationship took a violent turn. In early January 2022, according to police and court records, he refused to let her leave his Fort Worth house, held her for days, threatened to kill her, and pointed a gun at her. She managed to text family for help. Officers came. He was arrested and charged in a domestic-violence case that should have been a warning siren for everyone involved. (Oxygen)
A judge ordered him to wear a GPS ankle monitor and stay away from her. He got out on bond anyway. (Spectrum/AP)
Marissa decided to leave. With her family’s support, she planned a move to West Texas with her children, loading a U-Haul and putting distance between herself and the man who had already proven how dangerous he could be. On February 12, 2022, with the truck packed, she made a choice that many victims make: she drove to his Locke Avenue house in Fort Worth one last time to say goodbye. (NBC DFW)
She was never seen alive again.
Ten days later, after her U-Haul was found abandoned near the house, police executed a search warrant. Beneath the pier-and-beam home, in a shallow grave in the crawl space, they found Marissa’s body, wrapped in a blanket and tarp. The medical examiner documented multiple broken bones, head wounds, and signs of a prolonged beating. Prosecutors described the killing as torture and argued that he murdered her in retaliation for reporting him to law enforcement. (CBS Texas, Law&Crime)
In September 2025, a Tarrant County jury agreed. They convicted Valerian “Will” O’Steen of capital murder and sentenced him to death. He is now on Texas death row, his case a stark lesson in how thin the line can be between “protected” and “still at risk” when an abuser decides that calling the police is an unforgivable act. (TDCJ)
→ Quick Answers
- Who is Valerian “Will” O’Steen?
- A Fort Worth man, born in 1997, with prior criminal history, convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the February 2022 torture-killing of his ex-girlfriend, 26-year-old mother of two, Marissa Grimes.
- (CBS Texas)
- Who was Marissa Grimes?
- A 26-year-old mother of two from Arlington, Texas, described by family as loving and devoted to her children. She was trying to leave an abusive relationship with O’Steen and move to West Texas when she was killed.
- (PEOPLE)
- How was she killed?
- She suffered broken ribs, a broken arm and nose, two black eyes, head lacerations, and extensive bruising. Her death was ruled a homicide caused by blunt-force trauma to the head, and prosecutors characterized the crime as torture.
- (Dallas Morning News)
- Where was her body found?
- Under O’Steen’s rented pier-and-beam home on Locke Avenue in Fort Worth, in a shallow grave in the crawl space, wrapped in a blanket and tarp. He remained living in the house for roughly ten days.
- (PEOPLE, Law&Crime)
- Why was this charged as capital murder?
- Under Texas law, killing someone in retaliation for reporting you to police is an aggravating factor that can make a murder capital. Prosecutors argued that O’Steen killed Marissa because she reported him for domestic violence in January 2022, resulting in his arrest and monitoring.
- (Oxygen, TCADP)
- Where is he now?
- On Texas death row, in TDCJ custody as offender No. 999638, following his September 2025 death sentence.
- (TDCJ Offender Info)
🕊️Victims of Valerian O’Steen
Marissa Grimes
- Age: 26
- From: Arlington, Texas
- Family: Mother of two young children
- Life & circumstances:
Marissa was in the middle of rebuilding her life when she met Valerian O’Steen. Loved ones describe her as devoted to her kids and determined to protect them. By early 2022 she was trying to escape his violence: she had reported him to police, cooperated with charges, and was preparing to move to West Texas for safety. Her last known act was going to his Fort Worth house “just to say goodbye” before that move. She never got the chance to start over. (PEOPLE)
Valerian O’Steen
→ FAQs
Yes. In early January 2022, she reported that O’Steen held her in his home, threatened to kill her, and pointed a gun at her. That report led to his arrest on serious domestic-violence charges, the issuance of a no-contact order, and the fitting of a GPS ankle monitor.
(Oxygen)
The system required him to stay away, but it could not control his choices-or hers. He ignored court orders and, according to reporting, tampered with or failed to comply fully with monitoring conditions. Marissa, like many victims, still had emotional and practical ties to him and chose to see him one last time before moving away. The legal safeguards weren’t enough to stop him once he decided to violate them.
(Spectrum/AP)
The medical examiner reported multiple broken bones (including ribs, arm, and nose), two black eyes, lacerations to her head, extensive bruising on her arms and hands, and other injuries consistent with a prolonged, violent beating. Her death was attributed to blunt-force trauma to the head. Her hair was partially cut or chopped, suggesting additional degradation and control.
(Dallas Morning News)
Jurors in a Texas death-penalty case must consider whether the defendant poses a continuing threat and whether any mitigating factors justify sparing his life. They heard about his prior convictions, his noncompliance with court orders, his threats toward Marissa, the brutality of the killing, and testimony from another woman describing his frightening behavior. In the end, they found no mitigation strong enough to outweigh the aggravating factors and sentenced him to death.
(CBS Texas, Law&Crime)
All Texas capital convictions automatically go to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on direct appeal. Before trial, O’Steen also filed an original writ in that court, which generated temporary legal wrangling but did not stop the case from going forward. His full direct appeal and later state and federal habeas challenges will likely unfold over many years.
(Texas CCA – WR-96,713-01)
Valerian O’Steen | The Murder of Marissa Grimes
👉 The Story
A Young Mother Planning Her Escape
By February 2022, 26-year-old Marissa Grimes was doing what thousands of domestic-violence survivors do every year: packing boxes and making plans, trying to get herself and her children out before things got worse.
She had already seen how bad “worse” could be.
Weeks earlier, according to police and court records, Valerian “Will” O’Steen had locked her into his Fort Worth house and refused to let her leave. He threatened to kill her. He pointed a gun at her. Only by getting a message to family did she manage to break that confinement and bring patrol cars to the door. That intervention led to his arrest, a protective order, and a GPS ankle monitor that were supposed to give her room to breathe. (Oxygen)
She used that room to plan a move to West Texas with her kids. Her family helped her load a U-Haul. The idea was simple: new town, new start, new distance between her and the man who had already promised to hurt her.
One Last Goodbye
On February 12, 2022, the truck was packed. The route was set. The line between “before” and “after” should have been drawn in the rearview mirror as she pulled away.
Instead, Marissa made a decision that is heartbreakingly familiar in domestic-violence cases: she went back one more time.
She drove the loaded U-Haul to his Locke Avenue address, intending to say goodbye. A neighbor later testified that the two stopped by his house; that he saw them together; and that he witnessed O’Steen threaten Marissa with a gun that night. After that, she vanished. (NBC DFW)
Her phone went silent. She never arrived in West Texas. Days passed, then more. Her family reported her missing, knowing in their bones that this was not a woman who simply walked away from her children. (Spectrum/AP)
The House and the Crawl Space
Fort Worth officers began looking for her, tracing back from the last known facts: the U-Haul, the move, the ex-boyfriend she had reported to police, the Locke Avenue address.
On February 21, they found the truck abandoned about a mile from his house. The next day, armed with a search warrant, they went inside. Evidence led them beneath the pier-and-beam house, into the crawl space—one of those low, shadowed voids that usually holds plumbing and dust and little else.
There, in a shallow grave, wrapped in a blanket and tarp, they found the body of 26-year-old Marissa Grimes. (CBS Texas)
By the time they found her, decomposition had begun. The medical examiner would later catalogue her injuries: broken ribs, a broken arm and nose, two black eyes, lacerations to her head, bruises that told of defensive movements and desperation. She had not simply been killed; she had been beaten down, over and over, in what prosecutors would describe as a prolonged, torturous attack. (Dallas Morning News)
Above that crawl space, O’Steen had carried on with his life for roughly ten days—eating, sleeping, existing on top of the grave he had dug. (PEOPLE)
From Domestic Case to Capital Murder
When news of the discovery broke, questions followed: Why was he out on bond? How had this happened after a previous arrest and protective order? Why hadn’t the ankle monitor stopped him?
Reporters pieced together what the paperwork already showed: he had prior convictions and a history with the system; he had been arrested in January for violently restraining Marissa; he had been released with conditions that depended on his willingness to follow rules he had already shown he was willing to break. (Oxygen)
Tarrant County authorities charged him with capital murder, alleging that he killed Marissa in retaliation for her having reported him and cooperated in the domestic-violence case. Under Texas law, that retaliatory motive is enough to move a killing into the highest category of homicide. (TCADP – Capital Factors)
A Jury Weighs Retaliation, Torture, and Future Danger
In 2025, a Tarrant County jury heard the full story in a death-penalty trial.
They saw the photographs of Marissa’s injuries. They heard about the January incident and the protective order. They listened to testimony about the U-Haul, the neighbor’s account of seeing him threaten her with a gun, the days when she was missing, and the moment her body was found under the house. They also heard from another woman who said he held her at his home, assaulted her, and that she saw blood inside the residence. (Law&Crime)
In the punishment phase, the question shifted from “Did he do this?” to “What does justice look like now?” Jurors had to decide whether he would always be a threat and whether there was anything in his past—his childhood, his circumstances—that meaningfully mitigated what he had done.
They decided there was not.
On September 22, 2025, they sentenced Valerian “Will” O’Steen to death. He now sits on Texas death row, his case file one more entry in the long ledger of domestic-violence homicides that began with warning signs and ended with a grave. (CBS Texas, TDCJ)
Legal Status | Paper Trail | Valerian O’Steen
- Court of conviction: 371st District Court, Tarrant County, Texas
- Primary conviction: Capital murder (retaliation for reporting domestic violence) in the February 2022 killing of Marissa Grimes
- Sentence: Death penalty
Key milestones:
- Domestic-violence arrest and charges in January 2022 (aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; unlawful restraint) – Oxygen coverage
- Capital murder charge filed after discovery of the body in February 2022 – Spectrum/AP
- Death-penalty trial held in 2025 – NBC DFW trial opener
- Jury verdict and sentence on September 22, 2025 – CBS Texas, Dallas Morning News
- Received onto Texas death row (TDCJ No. 999638) on September 23, 2025 – TDCJ Offender Page
Appeals:
- Automatic direct appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (pending / in process)
- Original writ and pre-trial motions tracked under WR-96,713-01
Execution date:
- None set as of now. Scheduled executions list is maintained on the TDCJ Scheduled Executions page.
📚 Additional Resources
- CBS Texas – North Texas man sentenced to death in murder of 26-year-old mother of two
Straightforward summary of the case, injuries, and discovery under the house. - FOX 4 – Tarrant County man sentenced to death for 2022 murder of Arlington woman
Adds detail on the domestic-violence history, prior record, and prosecution’s theory. - PEOPLE – He Lived Above Her Body for 10 Days After Stashing Her in Crawl Space
National coverage focusing on the brutality of the killing and her attempt to leave.
📚 Further Reading / Watching
- Background & Bond Decisions:
- Oxygen – Man Out on Bond Charged With Murder of Woman He Previously Abused
- Spectrum News / AP – Police: Texas man out on bond suspected in woman’s death
- Trial & Sentencing Analysis:
- Dallas Morning News – Fort Worth man sentenced to die in 2022 beating, torture death of Arlington woman
- Law&Crime – Man who buried mom of 2 in crawl space when she packed U-Haul to leave him will pay the ultimate price
- Context on Texas Death Penalty & Domestic Violence:
- Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty – Texas Death Penalty Facts
- Texas Courts – Domestic Violence Resource Program
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Beyond the Gavel | Valerian O’Steen
Roll Card – Valerian “Will” O’Steen (TX)
Snapshot:
Valerian “Will” O’Steen is a Texas death-row prisoner convicted of capital murder for the February 2022 torture-killing of his ex-girlfriend, 26-year-old mother of two, Marissa Grimes. On September 22, 2025, a Tarrant County jury sentenced him to death, and he was received onto Texas death row the next day under TDCJ No. 999638.
Docket Map — Proceedings (Condensed)
Proceedings (condensed): major steps from arrest to death row, with verification links.
- Jan. 9–10, 2022 – Domestic-Violence Arrest (Fort Worth)
Arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful restraint after allegedly holding Marissa at gunpoint and refusing to let her leave.
– Spectrum/AP Early Coverage - Jan. 13, 2022 – Bond, Protective Order, GPS Monitor
Released on bond; ordered to have no contact with Marissa and to wear a GPS ankle monitor.
– Oxygen Case Overview - Feb. 22, 2022 – Body Found; Capital Charge Filed
Marissa’s body is found in a shallow grave under his Locke Avenue home; he is charged with capital murder in retaliation for her report.
– Oxygen – Capital Murder Charge
– Spectrum/AP Follow-up - 2022–2024 – Indictment, Pretrial Motions, Bond Revocation
Indicted for capital murder; bond in the earlier DV case revoked as noncompliance surfaces.
– FOX 4 Background - May–July 2025 – Original Writ & Stay Activity (Texas CCA)
Files original writ in the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, generating temporary stay and motions under WR-96,713-01.
– Texas CCA Docket – WR-96,713-01
– Texas Legislative Reference Library Clip on Stay - Aug. 12, 2025 – Death-Penalty Trial Opens (371st District Court)
Opening statements begin; prosecutors outline months of abuse, retaliatory motive, and torture evidence.
– NBC DFW – Opening Statements - Sept. 22, 2025 – Capital Conviction & Death Sentence
Jury convicts him of capital murder and imposes the death penalty.
– CBS Texas – Verdict & Sentence
– Dallas Morning News – Trial Recap - Sept. 23, 2025 – Received on Texas Death Row
Listed on the Texas death-row roster and offender page as TDCJ No. 999638.
– TDCJ Death Row Offender Info
Stay / Warrant / Window
- Execution Date / Warrant:
As of now, no execution date or death warrant has been set for Valerian “Will” O’Steen. Newly sentenced Texas death-row prisoners generally face years of direct appeal and state/federal habeas review before any warrant is signed.
– TDCJ – Scheduled Executions - Pretrial Stay:
Prior to trial, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a temporary stay in connection with his original writ, briefly halting proceedings before they resumed.
– Texas CCA Docket – WR-96,713-01
– Legislative Reference Library Clip
Case File Extras — What the Record Shows
- Second Alleged Victim After Marissa Disappeared
Law&Crime reports that days after Marissa was last seen, another woman said he held her at his home, assaulted her, and that she saw blood inside the residence he claimed came from a man he had tortured—testimony that underscored his ongoing dangerousness.
– Law&Crime Detailed Coverage - Bond and Risk Assessment Criticism
Commentary around the case has focused on the fact that he was released on bond in the January domestic-violence case—despite prior convictions, threats, and a high-risk profile—and how that decision may have contributed to her death.
– Oxygen – Bond & Prior Record
– Spectrum/AP – Out on Bond When She Died - Retaliation as a Capital Aggravator
Under Texas law, murdering someone in retaliation for reporting you to law enforcement is one of the aggravating factors that can make a murder capital. Analysts point to the O’Steen case as a clear example of that provision being applied in a domestic-violence context.
– TCADP – Texas Death Penalty Facts
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