Widow of David Stevens, slain by Thomas Johnson kills herself

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David Stevens was killed as he ran along White Rock Creek Trail in Dallas
Widow Patti, from Sunnyvale, found dead in suspected suicide on Sunday
At the time of his murder, she said she was struggling to eat and sleep
Thomas Johnson, 21, is in Dallas County Jail charged with the murder
Police said Johnson, who is diagnosed schizophrenic, confessed to killing

By Mia De Graaf and Khaleda Rahman For Dailymail.com

Published: 16:08 EST, 26 October 2015 | Updated: 08:28 EST, 27 October 2015

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Tragedy: Patti Stevens (pictured with her husband David on their wedding day) has taken her own life

The widow of a jogger who was brutally hacked to death by a machete-wielding schizophrenic in a random attack three weeks ago has committed suicide.

At the time, Patti Stevens, 54, told local newspapers she was 'lost' without David, 'the love of her life' and husband of 25 years.

He was killed by 21-year-old Thomas Johnson, a mentally ill former football player, as he ran along the popular White Rock Creek Trail in Dallas on the morning of October 12.

On Sunday, a neighbor called police concerned they had not seen Patti recently and could see vultures circling over her home, according to Dallas Morning News.

Officers forced their way into her garage shortly after 2pm to find the heartbroken widow lying dead on the ground next to her car, whcih still had the engine running.

She is suspected to have died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Shocked neighbors said Patti was distraught but seemed calm and in control in the days leading up to her death.

Her neighbor Michael Knight told the Dallas Morning News that Patti drove her relatives to the airport on Thursday following David's funeral.

Knight then saw her drive past his house on Saturday, and she waved at him. It was the last time anybody saw her.

A week earlier, Patti told the Dallas Morning News: ‘Dave was the love of my life and I’m lost without him.

‘People need to know that this was a wonderful person going out and doing what he loved to do.’

It took more than a day before the 53-year-old was identified as the victim through fingerprints.

But Patti, of Sunnyvale, said she knew something was wrong when he did not return home that morning.

She told the newspaper she was struggling to eat and sleep as she tried to cope with the grief, and was traumatized by news reports about his murder.

In a statement reported by WFAA last week, she said: 'This is a horrible, senseless tragedy and we are devastated with the loss of such a wonderful man.

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Patti Stevens, 54, widow of David Stevens, 53, (pictured) has committed suicide. David, a passionate runner, was killed as he jogged along the popular White Rock Creek Trail in Dallas on the morning of October 12

'It has created a huge hole in our hearts. As his family and friends begin to grieve, we would appreciate being given our privacy during this most difficult time.'

The alleged killer is in custody at Dallas County Jail charged with Stevens’ murder.

Thomas Johnson, 21, a former Texas A&M star who is diagnosed as a schizophrenic, confessed to the murder to police shortly after it took place.

According to an affidavit, Johnson called police that day and confessed to committing ‘capital murder’ – and added: ‘It's like when you don't wake up.'

Thomas Johnson, 21, a former Texas A&M star who is diagnosed as a schizophrenic, is in Dallas County Jail charged with murder

Patti Stevens said she knew something was wrong when her usually predictable husband of 25 years didn't come home from work that evening

He said he had recently lost his housing and was angry with his life when he repeatedly struck the runner using a 'large-bladed knife'.

Johnson was arrested and then charged with murder and two counts of probation violations.

Police said it appeared that the suspect had picked his victim at random and told homicide detectives he ‘just picked somebody to murder.’

But Patti didn’t know there had been a stabbing at the trail that day and only became worried when her husband didn’t return home from his job as an engineer that Monday evening.

She described her husband as a dedicated, passionate runner – who woke up every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5.30am to run 10 miles around White Rock Lake.

He usually came home straight after work.

According to an affidavit, Johnson (pictured playing wide receiver at Texas A&M in 2012) called police that day and confessed to committing ‘capital murder’ – and added: ‘It's like when you don't wake up'

So when he didn’t, she started calling police stations and then drove to the lake to check the parking lots that he usually used.

She found his grey Toyota 4Runner SUV in the third one.

But it took another day of phone calls and a visit to the Dallas County morgue before she learned that her husband was dead.

The couple, who never had children, both went to Michigan State University – but they didn’t meet until graduation and immediately hit it off.

She described him as ‘polite’ and ‘very humble’.

They moved to Dallas together in 1989 and built their dream house in Sunnyvale, where they both enjoyed living a simple life together.

Patti Stevens said her husband woke up at 5.30am that day to run 10 miles around the popular running trail

At the time, Patti said she was struggling to eat and sleep, and had been unable to watch news reports about her husband's murder, calling it a 'horrible, senseless tragedy'

Stevens had started running as a child in Lansing, Michigan, but it was in the 1990s that he began running seriously – ultimately finishing 11 marathons.

He kept news clippings from his marathons – and was always working to improve his finish time.

His wife said he saw running as a means of stress relief and a way to challenge himself.

And it was that morning, as he was working to better himself that his life was cruelly taken away.

George Alameel, his supervisor of 16 years, told the Morning News: ‘Dave was stolen from us. We were robbed of a great engineer, a great friend.’