Police in Texas are asking for the public's help in identifying a suspect in the murder of a South Plains College student who was found stabbed to death in his home last week.
On the evening of March 17, the Lubbock Police Department received an emergency 911 call notifying them of an unresponsive male inside an apartment in the 700 block of Indiana Avenue. "I need EMS over at Indiana Village right now," the caller told the 911 operator.
When police and EMS arrived on the scene, they found the lifeless body of 19-year-old Bradford McIver sprawled out on the floor. Investigators observed multiple stab wounds to Bradford's torso, indicating the teen's death was a homicide. There were obvious signs of a struggle inside the apartment, and a possible blood trail found outside suggested the killer might have been injured during the scuffle.
"The violence at the scene, the nature of what we saw there, and some of the evidence that we've collected that we can't comment any further on just yet lead us to believe that this person was injured," Lieutenant Jon Caspell said during a news conference last week.
"The injuries that the subject sustained most likely did require some type of medical attention. It could have been a minor one, where a family member or a friend may have helped him or her bandage up a wound. It could have been something where he or she actually had to go to a clinic or hospital…We really just need that one break, I think. The one name, the one key piece of information or evidence, and hopefully, we'll get to the bottom of this pretty quick."
Investigators have yet to comment on a time of death; however, Bradford's friends have said that he was last seen alive on March 15. How he met with his killer remains a mystery. Equally puzzling is a motive in the crime. None of Bradford's personal effects are missing, suggesting burglary was not the driving force behind the murder. Bradford's friends remain dumbfounded, unable to rationalize who would want their friend dead.
"Bradford was an extremely kind-hearted person," Bradford's friend, Casey Winters, said in an interview with Lubbockonline.com. "He loved everyone. Everyone who knew him loved him. He was not hard to love."
Similar sentiments have been expressed on Bradford's MySpace.com profile. On March 23, a user identified only as "Mac" wrote:
"I don't even know what to say. You were such a great person, and I can't even begin to imagine who in the hell would do that to you. Watch over me and help me through these times..."
Lubbock police are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Bradford's killer. Anyone with information should call Crime Line at 806-741-1000.
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