TCSO: Suspect identified in Manchaca woman's murder found dead

MANCHACA, Texas - A suspect identified in the murder of a Manchaca woman in mid-April was found dead Monday morning, says the Travis County Sheriff's Office.

The body of 59-year-old Daniel Carnahan was found by Hays County deputies after a warrant was issued for his arrest Saturday in connection with the death of 70-year-old Janice Hughes.

TCSO patrol deputies responded to a 9-1-1 call of a deceased person in the 600 block of Hickory Ridge Road just before 10 a.m. on April 16. Deputies found Hughes' unresponsive body lying in the back yard and she was pronounced dead at 10:01 a.m. According to TCSO, nothing about the scene or the body appeared suspicious as there was no notable evidence of trauma.

The Travis County Medical Examiner's Office performed an autopsy on Hughes on April 23 and found a small pellet in her lung. Further examination revealed a very small entrance wound and the pellet was determined to be the cause of death.

TCSO began a homicide investigation and detectives learned from multiple witnesses that Hughes had been in an ongoing property line dispute with Carnahan, her neighbor. Witnesses described various ways Carnahan had allegedly harassed her and the dispute was further evidenced by multiple TSCO incident reports.

TCSO says Carnahan was the one who called 9-1-1 to report her death and that her body was lying ten feet away from the line between her property and his. Detectives executed a search warrant on his home and found pellets visually similar to the one in Hughes' lung.

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A warrant was issued for Carnahan's arrest and TCSO received a tip that he had asked friends to give him gas money and a gun. The tipster told them Carnahan had claimed what happened to Hughes was an accident and that he couldn't go to jail. The tipster refused to give him a weapon.

A law enforcement BOLO was distributed and the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force was mobilized in an effort to locate Carnahan. His body was found Monday morning by Hays County deputies, but TCSO did not disclose where.

TCSO says its homicide case remains open and will not close until all evidence has been fully processed and every possible lead has been thoroughly explored.