Bell murder stuns Permenter ‘family’

by Steve Snyder of TODAY Newspapers

Permenter Middle School students had an unwelcome surprise at school Feb. 29.

One of their own teachers, 34-year-old Judith Marie Bell, was shot in her apartment early in the morning Feb. 29, dying about an hour later.

Cedar Hill Police received a call at 2:25 a.m. Feb. 29 reporting Bell was shot in the chest and stabbed in the back with children close by in the apartment, located near the intersection of Joe Wilson Road and Weaver Street.

Police said Bell was taken to Methodist Central Hospital by helicopter. She was pronounced dead just over an hour after the shooting, at 3:38 a.m., according to Cedar Hill Public Relations Director Corky Brown.

Bell's 10-year-old son and three daughters, ages 11, 17, and 20, of Bell's partner were in the house. Bell's partner, Seidah Vaughn, called the police to report the shooting; the children were all asleep, according to police reports.

Bell had been at Permenter since 2005. She taught resource math and coached girls' basketball. Vaughn also teaches there.

Before that, she taught in Dallas schools for four years, and was a juvenile detention officer for five years before that. She had a bachelor's degree in sociology from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, where she was an all-conference basketball player.

Kim Lewis, chief operating officer for the district, said the district made counselors available at the school Feb. 29.

"I would say she was a remarkable young lady, deeply loved by all. When students and athletes didn't feel they had anybody else to talk to, they would talk to her," he said. "The students took it pretty hard ... and so did the teachers."

According to Cedar Hill Police Lt. Steve Lafferty, police do not have any information on a suspect or a motive at this time.