Consetta Harris got into the real estate business in 2006 with a stern warning from her mother Joyce about the dangers the job presents for females.

She was told about how showing vacant homes to strangers who may have hidden agendas and doing it all alone were just some of the dangers female realtors face on the job.

So when Harris learned Arkansas real estate agent Beverly Carter was reportedly murdered while showing a house to a stranger, it made her even more aware of how true her mother’s words still are.

“We have to reinforce safety measures, because safety is top propriety,” Harris, Covenant Realty LLC’s associate broker said. “Selling is our job and most real estates are composed of females, so it’s like we’re easy targets sometimes, unfortunately.”

Authorities believe Carter was targeted because she was a woman and worked alone.

A man named Arron Lewis was arrested and charged with murder. He entered a not guilty plea Sept. 30 on charges of capital murder, robbery and kidnapping.

A 2011 report from the National Association of Realtors shows women disproportionally victimized in violent crimes against real estate agents.

Like other real estate agencies, Covenant Realty LLC gives its realtors advice about how to avoid danger.

Real estate employees are to let others know where they are going and when they should be expected to return.

They are told to be especially cautious when meeting clients in the evening during the fall and winter, because the darker evenings make the interactions even more threatening.

If agents get an eerie feeling, it may be best they get a meeting inside the office before contacting the caller outside of the office.

Harris said Covenant Realty, LLC doesn’t want its clients to be offended when agents don’t rush out to meet them for the first time.

“Sometimes our business minds tell us to go for it and run, but we just ask that customers and clients understand that we do have to protect our safety,” Harris said. “It’s not that we don’t want to meet you at a house, it’s just that it’s safer for us to meet you in an office.”

Selma Police Department Chief William Riley said he isn’t familiar with any reported incidents in which women with a local real estate business encountered any criminal behavior on the job, but that hasn’t caused Harris to let her guard down.

“We just want to send our condolences out to the lady’s family in Arkansas, because it easily and unfortunately could have been any of us,” she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.