FORT WORTH, TX — A Tarrant County jury has sentenced 28-year-old Valerian “Will” O’Steen to death for the February 2022 killing of 26-year-old Marissa Grimes, a mother of two from Arlington.
Grimes was reported missing by her family, and police later discovered her body hidden in the crawl space beneath O’Steen’s rental home. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner determined her death was a homicide caused by blunt force trauma, including multiple lacerations, broken bones, and bruising consistent with prolonged abuse.
Prosecutors said O’Steen had a history of domestic violence against Grimes and had previously threatened her life. After she moved to West Texas for safety, the two resumed contact, culminating in the fatal encounter on February 12, 2022. Witnesses reported that O’Steen threatened Grimes with a firearm, and days later, her abandoned U-Haul was found near his home.
“This was torture, plain and simple,” said Assistant District Attorney Peter Gieseking. “She was beaten to death, and he lived above her body for 10 days.”
Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Allenna Bangs told jurors that the case left no room for mercy, calling on them to administer justice. District Attorney Phil Sorrells praised the Fort Worth Police Department and the investigative team, including DA Investigator Tim Pinckney and Victim Advocate Clara Salvatierra, for their work on the case.
"We are all made in God's image," the victim's father, Daryl Grimes, told O'Steen after his sentencing. "You had no right to take away my daughter's life."
O’Steen’s sentence reflects the jury’s decision after hearing the details of Grimes’s abuse and murder.
