HOUSTON – The family of a murdered Houston woman is trying to raise money for her funeral.
Melanie Tanner, 37, was found stabbed to death Nov. 19 in a ditch in southeast Houston.
Her family and friends held a car wash Saturday at Auto Zone on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and W. Bellfort to raise money for funeral expenses.
"We've all tried to come together to come up with something, but we weren't able to come up with all the funds to get her buried," said one of Melanie Tanner's best friends, Cynthia Carpenter. "This is the best thing we could come up with to try and help the family out."
Carpenter said she and Melanie Tanner had known each other their whole lives.
"She was a caring and loving person," Carpenter said. "She loved her children. She loved her family members."
Melanie Tanner's younger sisters, Dominque and Dameca Tanner, said their sister had her problems and was a known drug user but didn't deserve to die.
"She's always helping people out. That's the kind of person she was," said Dameca Tanner.
"She still was a human being. She still had family," Carpenter said. "We care about her and she did not deserve to die like that."
Ten days after she was murdered her killer still hasn't been caught.
"It's really frustrating because it could be somebody staring me right in the face," Dominique Tanner said.
The family is hoping to have Melanie Tanner's funeral in a week. They still need to raise about $1,000 for funeral expenses.
You can contact the Willie Waddell Riverside Funeral Home in Houston to donate.