Police

Smith Sheriff’s Office warns public of more phone scams

The Smith County Sheriff’s Office continues to receive reports of telephone scams, said spokesman Sgt. Larry Christian, who added the number of these bogus calls are growing. The most recent scams involve a caller stating that he is either Sgt. Tim Jones or Sgt. Justin Hall. The caller states that he is with the Smith

Read More

Tyler man arrested, charged with sexual assault of child

Smith County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Eugenio Gonzalez-Hernandez of Tyler for allegedly sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl on Tuesday, Jan. 23 at a residence on County Road 326 in Tyler, said spokesman Larry Christian. At approximately 10:15 p.m. on Jan. 23, deputies responded to the scene and were told Gonzalez-Hernandez had allegedly perpetrated the assault. During

Read More

County man stabbed, suspect charged with murder Sunday

Noe Luna, 43, of Tyler was fatally stabbed Sunday (Jan. 21) at his residence in the 400 block of County Road 34 near Tyler and a suspect has been arrested and charged with murder, said Smith County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Larry Christian. Letierus Lynn Drew, 23, was arrested in connection with the stabbing, Christian said,

Read More

More scams reported

Officials with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office are issuing another warning concerning scams involving phone callers identifying themselves as members of the sheriff’s department demanding money. Spokesman Sgt. Larry Christian said in the most recent scam, callers are identifying themselves as Smith County Sheriff’s employees, specifically “Lt. Robert Strickland’’ and “Sgt. Larry Christian.’’ The callers

Read More

Court-appointed expert says man accused in dentist’s deaths competent

Steven Alexander Smith, 41, who stands accused of the shooting deaths of two Tyler dentists in March, 2022, is competent to stand trial according to recent testimony by a court-appointed expert. Smith, of Tyler, faces capital murder charges in connection with the fatal shootings of Dr. Jack Burroughs Jr. and Dr. Blake Sinclar on March

Read More

Smith County Jail inmate dies Dec. 27

Officials with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office reported that jail inmate Susan Taylor, 58, had died after being taken to a UT Health emergency room after being found unconscious in the day room of the jail just after 12 noon on Wednesday, Dec. 27. Emergency personnel began implementing life-saving measures but Taylor remained unresponsive. She

Read More

Phillips arrested; charged with false subpeonas

Lance Phillips, son of Smith County Precinct 3 Commissioner Terry Phillips and County Clerk Karen Phillips, remains in the Smith County Jail this week after being arrested for issuing subpoenas without authorization, county officials said. According to the warrant, a detective with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office was asked to investigate three processes that were

Read More

Lance Phillips surrenders to authorities after court incident

Lance Phillips, son of Smith County Precinct 3 Commissioner Terry Phillips, turned himself into authorities this past weekend after evading arrest on a contempt of court charge last Thursday in Winona, officials said. Smith County Precinct 4 Constable Josh Joplin confirmed Phillips surrendered on Saturday, July 29. Phillips was booked into the Smith County Jail

Read More

Lindale man sentenced to 30 years for child sex crimes

Colin Wade Turner, 67 of Lindale was sentenced to 30 years in prison this past week after pleading guilty to multiple child sex crimes in 2022, officials said. Turner was arrested on Dec. 2, 2022 on five counts of possession of child pornography and one count of indecency with a child. On Tuesday, July 25

Read More

Body found off I-20 in Van Zandt County

TYLER – At 4:03 yesterday afternoon, DPS Troopers responded to a report by Texas Department of Transportation road crews of a body they discovered while cleaning debris from the grass on the south side of IH-20 approximately 2.6 miles west of the city of Canton in Van Zandt County.  An investigation is under way to

Read More