TCSO investigating Sunday morning homicide

SPURGER – Authorities are investigating a homicide that occurred early Sunday morning near Spurger.

According to Tyler County Sheriff Bryan Weatherford, deputies responded to a residence located on FM 1013, west of Spurger at 1:45 a.m., in reference to an individual being shot.
Weatherford said that once the deputies were on the scene, they observed several individuals standing over the victim, a male, who appeared to have been shot multiple times in the chest and stomach area. The man, whose identity is not being released at this time by Tyler County Sheriff’s Office, pending his family’s notifications, was pronounced dead at the scene by Pct. 4 Justice of the Peace Jim Moore. An autopsy will be conducted within the week in Beaumont.

Weatherford said that prior to the victim being pronounced deceased, CPR was being administered to the victim, and the deputies assisted with medical attention until EMS arrived.

TCSO deputies, along with Department of Public Safety state troopers were able to secure the scene and locate several shell casings near the victim’s body.

Weatherford said that the residence was the scene of a party, where more than 100 individuals were gathered, yet “very little cooperation is being given by individuals that may have witnessed the shooting itself, or that are withholding information that could lead to the arrest of the suspect(s) responsible for this homicide.”

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The murder was especially shocking to Kendall Coleman, owner of Coleman’s Family Mortuary and a community leader in Woodville. The victim’s body was taken to Coleman’s mortuary, and he made a public video on Facebook on Sunday morning. He said he had been hanging out at the party the night before, and when he received the call to come recover the victim’s body, it shocked him. He called the crime a “senseless act.”

“Somebody saw something, somebody knows something. I’m pleading to you (to come forward) …it happened right here, in Tyler County,” Coleman said, and added that whoever committed the crime needs to be held accountable. “Do the right thing, turn yourself in,” Coleman said in the video, addressing whoever is responsible.

Coleman said although he did not know the victim, it seemed especially tragic when he learned the man was a father and said that he especially feels sorrow for his family.

Weatherford said that the circumstances around the murder are giving investigators a hard time identifying who the actor(s) may be.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Tyler County Sheriff’s Office at 409-283-2172, or Crime Stoppers at 936-639-TIPS. Tipsters calling into the Crime Stoppers hotline with information that leads to an arrest may be eligible for a cash reward.