Suspect in Arp Murder Back in Custody
Posted/updated on: March 11, 2013 at 5:33 pm
ARP — A man arrested in a Smith County shooting has been re-arrested after the victim died. Richard Lee Hunt, 51, has been charged with murder in the shooting death of Tony Tillman, 53. Tillman, who had been hospitalized since the shooting last Tuesday, died Saturday at a Tyler Hospital. Hunt allegedly shot him in the neck and chest, then reportedly shot himself accidentally in the leg. The incident happened shortly after 6:15 March 5th at a residence in the 15000 block of Highway 135 near Arp.
Early last Wednesday morning, after receiving treatment for his wound, Hunt was arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was booked into the Smith County Jail. Hunt was later released on bond. Hunt was re-arrested on the new charge of first degree murder and is now back in the Smith County Jail. State District Judge Jack Skeen set Hunt’s bond at $750,000.
Tillman’s body was sent to Southwestern Institute of Forensic Science in Dallas for an autopsy.
