Neighbor: Victim of west El Paso homicide was calm, kind

Neighbors say they’re shocked after learning the woman accused of killing 51-year-old Dawn Denise Weatherly on New Year’s Eve lived in the same apartment complex as her.

Police arrested Darrin Yeager, 32, late Friday on suspicion of killing 51-year-old Weatherly.

Detectives learned that Yeager and Weatherly were acquaintances who had ongoing hostility toward each other. On New Year’s eve, the two met at Weatherly’s apartment where a fight occurred.

The victim was found dead just after 5 p.m. Monday in at the Mountain View Apartment Complex, at 5890 Bandolero.

But one neighbor, who didn’t want to be identified, told ABC-7 he never saw hostility between the two. He said Yeager told him she suffered from mental illness.

“She had a problem and I know she told me herself, she was bipolar,” he said. “So I’m thinking it was only a bad accident. Maybe they did argue but her sickness really turned on her.”

The neighbor told ABC-7 the two women were friends and would regularly walk their dogs together. He said he know Weatherly for many years and described her as calm, sweet and kind.

“A good person to have as a friend,” he said. “She spoke her mind. There were no negative vibes from her.”

Robert Rodriguez lives above Weatherly’s apartment. He said he heard nothing the night of the murder, but has heard two women arguing in the past.

“It was really loud,” Rodriguez said. “It was muffling sounds. It was two women though. I heard two women’s voices.”

The official cause of death is still pending determination by the medical examiner’s office.

Yeager was booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility under a $1 million bond.