Cigarette butt helps police arrest 29-year-old Texas man, Byron Lloyd Collins, in ‘Mother’s Day rape and murder’, a year and a half after brutal killing
Cigarette butt helps police arrest suspect in Mother’s Day murder a year and a half after brutal killing
Byron Lloyd Collins was arrested Friday for the 2016 murder of a Baytown, Texas woman
Nataliya Shal was found dead in her Baytown apt on May 8, 2016 – the 50-year-old mother of one had been “brutally” murdered stabbed in her back multiple times and sexually assaulted by her killer
Shal’s husband was out of town for work at the time of the murder and had called cops for a welfare check
Despite DNA evidence and a sketch of a man seen talking to Shal the day she was murdered, cops were unable to nail down a suspect or make arrests
In June, the Combined DNA Index System enabled investigators narrow down to the suspect while testing the DNA of current inmates, including his brother, for familial links
Zeroing in on Collins, detectives surveilled him and picked up a cigarette butt he discarded for testing, which proved a match
Collins was arrested at the Lakes of Madera Apts, the same complex where the murder occurred, and held in the Harris County Jail without bail
Faces capital murder charges, and life imprisonment or the death penalty, if convicted
Byron Lloyd Collins [photo],was arrested for the 2016 brutal rape and murder of his neighbor in Baytown, Texas apt complex
50-year-old Shal’s body was discovered inside her West Baker apartment on May 8 after her husband, who was out of town for work at the time of the murder, called police to perform a welfare check on his wife
Responding officers found the mother-of-one dead in her home. She had been stabbed in her back multiple times. Court records show that she had also been sexually assaulted, KHOU reports.
There were no signs of forced entry – despite the available DNA evidence at the scene of the crime, and creation of a sketch composite of a man seen talking to the victim the day she was murdered, investigators could not narrow down to a suspect or make any subsequent arrests.It was Mother’s Day and Shal had moved to Houston from Russia about a year earlier, spent most of her time at the apartment as her husband was on the road as a truck driver.
Nataliya Shal a Baytown, Texas resident was brutally raped and murdered allegedly, by a neighbor, in her apt on May 8, 2016
It wasn’t until June this year that technology helped investigators catch a break in the case. Using the Combined DNA Index System, police tested the crime scene DNA tested for familial links with DNA sets already in the system, in this case the DNA of current inmates.
When they got a match, investigators realized the killer’s brother was already in prison and had DNA in the system which zeroed in on Lloyd Collins, Through a process of elimination.
Police picked up a cigarette butt the suspect discarded while under surveillance, for testing against DNA evidence from the crime scene. The positive match led to his being brought in for questioning.
Collins was arrested Friday, at the Lakes of Madera Apartments, the same complex where the murder occurred.
“We take these cases very personally simply because we understand how important they are to the victims and their families,” Baytown police Lt. Steve Dorris told the Houston Chronicle. “This is one of those cases where the pieces of the puzzle all kind of fall together.”
There was no sign of forced entry into the apt where Nataliya Shal was found dead on May 8, 2016
Dorris said Collins did not “outright confess” and police still don’t have a motive for the brutal crime.
Collins is being held in the Harris County Jail without bail on capital murder charges.
If convicted, he faces life in prison or the death penalty.
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