Man Arrested in Son’s Death

QUITMAN — A man has been arrested in Wood County in connection with his son’s death. Officials say George Saunders was located and arrested at the Wal-Mart store in Mineola. According to KETK and the Wood County Sheriff’s Office, Saunders was arrested for an outstanding warrant for manslaughter in the death of his son, Loren Saunders.

George Saunders was originally scheduled to turn himself in to the Wood County Sheriff’s Office with his attorney. However, authorities say Saunders failed to show. A Crimestoppers tip indicated that Saunders was staying at a residence on Patten street in Mineola. Mineola Police Officer Carolyn Tanner located his vehicle at the Wal-Mart store at Loop 564 and State Highway 37. Further information indicated that Saunders was at Wal-Mart. Saunders is currently in custody in the Wood County Detention Facility.

Lab results conclude Loren Saunders, 16, was shot by his father, 56, in the chest on January 18. In May, Wood County officials said the circumstances surrounding the teen’s death were suspicious after he was found with a single gunshot wound to the chest. Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a residence at Chaney Point RV Park on County Road 1590 after Saunders’s father reported his son had been shot and he was doing CPR on him.

The case was turned over to the Wood County District Attorney’s Office for further investigation after the medical examiner’s office said evidence didn’t add up to the death being considered accidental. At the time, investigator William Burge said Saunders’s cause of death was ruled accidental, because Saunders’ father told authorities he caught him playing with the handgun.