Murder of Alexandria Kostial

Alexandria "Ally" Kostial was a 21-year-old University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) student who was found dead near a Mississippi lake in July 2019. She had reportedly been shot multiple times. Her remains were discovered by a Lafayette County sheriff's deputy in Lafayette County, Mississippi, the county that is home to the Ole Miss campus in Oxford; available reporting does not further specify the exact site where she was found.

A fellow Ole Miss student, 22-year-old Brandon Theesfeld of Fort Worth, Texas, was arrested and charged with murder in connection with Kostial's death. A former dormitory neighbor who said he had lived in the same dorm as Theesfeld for a year later described Theesfeld publicly as arrogant, saying Theesfeld frequently referenced his father's wealth and made crude or disparaging remarks toward women in their dormitory. The same person said Theesfeld and Kostial had dated on and off for about a year before her death, describing the relationship as inconsistent rather than a steady, ongoing partnership.

According to available coverage, Theesfeld occasionally dated Kostial and believed she might have been pregnant after she sent him a message describing an inconclusive pregnancy test; he told her he was not ready to become a parent. In the period before her death, Theesfeld reportedly avoided Kostial or cancelled plans with her at the last minute, and the two eventually communicated only electronically rather than in person. These details about the couple's communication and Theesfeld's reaction to the pregnancy scare were part of the account of their relationship that emerged in coverage after her death.

Kostial's funeral was held in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, in July 2019.

Theesfeld was charged with murder and ultimately pled guilty to first-degree murder, a plea that spared him a capital murder charge and the possibility of a death sentence. He was sentenced to life in prison, with eligibility for conditional release once he turns 65; the sentence therefore carries the possibility of parole rather than a fixed release date.