BEAUMONT, Texas — The LaBelle man, who fatally shot himself late Thursday night as Jefferson County deputies attempted to serve him with an arrest warrant, pleaded guilty to a grisly murder in North Texas when he was a teenager.
Michael Marr, 38, of LaBelle, died at the scene near Fannett on Labelle Road off Highway 365 just before 10 p.m.
According to Jefferson County Sheriff Zena Stephens, deputies were trying to serve Marr a warrant while he was inside a company truck. A sexual assault warrant was issued out for his arrest on Wednesday.
Deputies recognized the company truck Thursday night before he unloaded a boat onto a canal off LaBelle Road.
That's when the deputy on scene started to give him verbal commands. Marr then picked up a gun and fatally shot himself according to Jefferson County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Crystal Holmes.
Marr was just 16-years-old when he pleaded guilty to the murder of a 53-year-old black man who lived down the street from him according to an August 1999, story in the Rains County Leader.
He was sentenced to 40 years with his first four years being in the Texas Youth Commission and the rest in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice system unless he was first paroled by, the TYC the article said.
Public records show that Marr was released onto parole in January 2003. Records show he would have been on parole until 2039.
Marr testified in 1999 that he and a 24-year-old man had killed H.W. Walker over some drugs, the article said.
Marr testified he had lured Walker to the death scene and tied him up with an electrical cord. Hours later, he and the 24-year-old man came back and the older man lit Walker on fire the article said.
Deputies were serving him with a warrant for sexual assault as well as a parole violation warrant due to the sexual assault case the sheriff's office said.
No deputies were shot or injured at the scene.
GET NEWS & WEATHER ALERTS | Download the 12News App to your mobile device
The investigation is still ongoing. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
