Waiting for Answers

Anderson County sheriff’s authorities continued Tuesday to await preliminary results from an autopsy performed on the body of a 22-year-old Frankston man shot to death over the weekend.

Authorities say they arrived at a residence on FM 315, southwest of Frankston, late Sunday night to discover Jason Perry, 22, of Frankston deceased in the front yard – the apparent victim of a single gunshot to the back.

Anderson County sheriff’s deputies and a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper responded to the residence in the 12000 block of FM 315 after receiving a report of shots fired there at 10:40 p.m. Sunday.

Sheldon Wall, 30, of Palestine has been charged with Perry’s murder and remained in the Anderson County Jail Tuesday in lieu of a $50,000 bond set by Anderson County Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Gary Thomas.

Authorities have expressed an opinion that the fatal shooting possibly stemmed from “a lover’s triangle.”

Anderson County Sheriff’s Capt. Tommy Barr said Tuesday that Perry’s vehicle was at the residence upon officers’ arrival.

“He (Perry) had a wound in the back,” the captain stated.

Barr said authorities are receiving conflicting information from witnesses at the scene, but believe three other people, including a female, other than the suspect and deceased were present at the time of the shooting.

Both the suspect and decedent have “some criminal history,” but the captain did not indicate either had faced serious charges in the past.

Shortly after his arrest, Wall declined to answer any questions without an attorney present, according to authorities.

Three rifles and a handgun were discovered inside the residence, according to Barr.

“We recovered one rifle casing at the scene,” the captain said.

An autopsy was performed on Perry’s body Monday afternoon at the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas.

As of Tuesday afternoon, authorities were awaiting preliminary results from the autopsy which could be available as soon as today.

“It will tell us about 90 percent of what we need to know,” Barr said.

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Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com