2019 Top General News Story: Two Murders Shake LOU Community

By Alyssa Schnugg
News editor
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

The murders of Dominque “Lucy” Clayton, left, and Alexandria “Ally” Kostial shook the LOU community in 2019.

The LOU community said final goodbyes to many beloved members of the community in 2019, including popular Oxford townee Ron Shapiro and long-time Aldermen Ulysses “Coach” Howell.

However, two unrelated, violent deaths rocked the community to its core.

Dominique “Lucy” Clayton, a mother of four, and Ole Miss student Ally Kostial were both killed, allegedly by men who claimed to love them.

Clayton, 31, was found shot to death in her home on May 20. Two days later, Matthew Kinne, a patrol officer with the Oxford Police Department at the time, was arrested and charged with her murder.

Police and family said the two were in a relationship despite Kinne being married. He was with OPD for four years before being terminated after his arrest.

In August, Kinne was indicted for capital murder and is being held at the Union County Jail awaiting trial. He was originally being held in the Panola County Jail; however, in August, a photo emerged of Kinne outside of his jail cell freely standing at a counter eating without handcuffs with no officers around him.

Kinne’s arrest in May led to two other officers resigning from OPD.

On May 23, Ryan Winters and Collins Bryant handed in resignation letters.

Winters was a sergeant and Bryant was with the OPD Mounted Patrol and was Kinne’s supervisor. The reasons for their resignation were not made public.

The Mississippi Bureau of Investigations is handling the investigation.

In May, Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill said she had contacted the Attorney General’s Office to ask them to conduct an internal investigation of OPD. The results of that investigation have not yet been released.

Clayton family attorney Carlos Moore filed a $5 million insurance claim with the city of Oxford; however, no formal lawsuit has been filed against OPD or the city of Oxford.

Ole Miss senior slain

Two months later, on July 21, the body of 21-year-old Ole Miss marketing student Alexandria “Ally” Kostial was found with several gunshot wounds close to Sardis Lake in Harmontown.

Two days later, Brandon Theesfeld, 22, of Fort Worth, Texas was arrested and charged with her murder. Theesfeld was a student in the School of Business Administration.

News outlets report Theesfeld was fleeing Oxford when he was apprehended by law enforcement working with the Memphis Police Department on July 23, after credit card charges and phone records led the police to a Mobil gas station in south Memphis.

A grand jury indicted Theesfeld on charges of capital murder and kidnapping in August.

A motive for the murder has not yet been released by investigators, although friends of Kostial said she and Theesfeld had known each other for years.

In August during a bond hearing, Lafayette County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Howorth approved a request that the hearing for Theesfeld be postponed while he underwent a psychiatric evaluation at the Mississippi State Hospital in Rankin County. He remains in custody and the evaluation is still pending.

The Associated Student Body Senate unanimously passed a resolution in September honoring Kostial for her positivity and involvement on campus.

Kinne and Theesfeld are both being represented by attorney Tony Farese. If convicted, both men could face the death penalty.