Man Jailed in Gregg County for Bowie County Deputy’s Death

LONGVIEW — A man accused of killing a Bowie County deputy is currently being housed in the Gregg County Jail. Tucker Orton Strickland, 23, is accused of overpowering the 54-year-old deputy while being escorted from the Bowie County Courthouse in New Boston, grabbing her gun and shooting her dead. He was later arrested in Arkansas.

Strickland had previously being ruled incompetent to stand trial for the murder. But the hospital where Strickland was treated now says he is considered to be competent. He wsa booked into the jail in Longview on Tuesday. Strickland’s public defender, Rick Shumaker, told the Longview News-Journal he was being kept in the Gregg County jail because the person he killed was employed by Bowie County.