BAYTOWN, Texas – A man was arrested last week in connection with the stabbing death of a 50-year-old Baytown woman on Mother’s Day in 2016, according to court documents.
Court documents identified Byron Lloyd Collins, 29, of Baytown, as the suspect in the slaying of Nataliya Shal. Collins was arrested on Friday at the same apartment complex where the murder took place, a press release from the Baytown Police department said.
According to the documents, Collins is accused of stabbing Shal to death while committing aggravated sexual assault.
During a hearing on Saturday, prosecutors said that DNA found on a cigarette smoked by Collins matched DNA found during the homicide investigation.
Shal’s body was found May 8, 2016, in her apartment at the Lakes at Madera complex in the 300 block of West Baker Road. Officers spotted Shal’s body through a window after her truck-driving husband, David Englerth, called police after not hearing from her.
Five months later, investigators released the sketch of a man believed to be involved in Shal’s death.
On Wednesday, police said the sketch of the suspect to Collins' actual features was "pretty close."
Elizabeth Morris, a neighbor, said she saw Shal and Collins together the day Shal was killed.
"They were talking, just sitting on the porch," Morris said. "I had no idea she was fixing to get killed."
Collins has been charged with capital murder, according to the documents. He is being held in the Harris County Jail without bond.
Collins' arrest was not a result of a Crimestoppers tip, therefore the reward money will not be given out, police said.