PORT ARTHUR, Texas — New details have been released about the charges against a murder suspect accused of beating his girlfriend to death in Port Arthur.
Officers responded to the 2100 block of Birch Avenue in Port Arthur around midnight on February 24. They found an unresponsive woman who was later pronounced dead at the scene, police said in a news release. Port Arthur Police identified her as Aletha Gonzalez.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by 12News, Shackleford called 911 that night and said he came home and found a television on top of his girlfriend. However, investigators found bruises on her face, neck and arms as well as the rest of her body, which was more consistent with being beaten.
The autopsy revealed her death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head, and she died because of a hemorrhage on the right side of her head, the probable cause affidavit said.
Daniel Shackleford, 34, was arrested by Port Arthur Police March 7 for her homicide after he admitted to police that a verbal argument became physical on that night, the probable cause affidavit said. He was booked into the Jefferson County Correctional Facility, and his bond was set at $500,000.
Shackleford was in a relationship with Gonzalez, police said.
This is a developing story. 12News will update with more if and when we receive confirmed information.
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