WACO, Texas — Another client of a Waco contractor came forward on Wednesday saying he stole over $1 million from her while promising to remodel her kitchen.
Elizabeth Brasfield said she hired Joseph Evans with Evanson Construction in September 2019, shortly after her father died. She added that she used her inheritance to pay for the remodeling project.
"There were weeks where he would ask for $10,000 a day and would tell me... no more work could be worked on or finished on my house until he received that $10,000," Brasfield recalled. "In fact, there were a few days where he asked for $10,000 more than once."
After a span of two years, however, Brasfield was left with an unfinished kitchen, unlivable home and was forced to move to Virginia because she couldn't afford to live at her house on Concord Avenue anymore, she said.
"After months of trying to work with him to even get the house livable and him giving me deadline after deadline, I finally informed him that he was in breach of contract and I expected all the unused funds to be returned to me," Brasfield said.
Brasfield explained that Evans agreed to pay her back, but "he never returned a dime." She said the breach of contract was noted at the end of August 2021.
Brasfield said she is now suing Evans to get her money back.
"This man took every advantage of me," she said. " ... He's ruined too many people's lives and must be stopped."
6 News first reported about Evans and Evanson Construction back in February after a Robinson man reached out to 6 Fix for help. The man, Russell Westbrook, said Evans made his home unlivable and that he was out $24,000 over an unfinished remodeling project.
Shortly after, Evans was arrested by the Waco Police Department over a similar situation where a Waco woman reportedly paid him nearly $16,000 in 2020, but Evans never finished the project, according to the arrest affidavit.
6 News also learned that Evans was arrested and indicted days ago. Details about his indictment weren't released, but 6 News is attempting to get a hold of the court documents.
How can you stay safe when hiring a contractor?
"Any type of person that you're hiring, even sometimes attorneys that you're hiring, you kind of want to be careful not to give all the money upfront," Judge Bobby Garcia with the Waco Municipal Court told 6 News back in March. "You obviously want to get a signed contract because that's the contract that you're going to use when you go and you seek civil remedies."
If it is a value of under $20,000, you can go to the Justice of the Peace to file a small claims suit, he said.
"You do not need a lawyer to file those types of cases and then you can try to recover your money that way," Garcia added.
Stay with 6 News as this story develops.