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May 12, 2024 - (Update: 9:09pm): as of 9:01pm, a Flood Warning continues for the following rivers in Texas Attoyac Bayou Near Chireno affecting Rusk, Shelby, San Augustine and Nacogdoches Counties.
For the Attoyac Bayou including Chireno, minor flooding is forecast.
Precautionary/Preparedness Actions: Do not drive cars through flooded areas. Caution is urged when walking near riverbanks. Turn around, don`t drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles.
Motorists should not attempt to drive around barricades or drive cars through flooded areas.
For more hydrologic information, click here
The next statement will be issued Monday evening at 9:15pm CDT.
Flood watch remains in effect through Tuesday morning.
What: Flooding caused by excessive rainfall continues to be possible.
Where: Portions of northwest Louisiana, including the following parishes, Bossier, Caddo, De Soto, Natchitoches, Red River and Sabine and Texas, including the following counties, Angelina, Cherokee, Gregg, Harrison, Marion, Nacogdoches, Panola, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby, Smith, Upshur and Wood.
When: Through Tuesday morning.
Impacts: Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations.
Additional Details: Showers and thunderstorms, some of which may cause heavy rainfall, will continue this afternoon and tonight across East Texas and Western Louisiana along and south of the Interstate 20 corridor, before diminishing late. However, additional showers and thunderstorms will redevelop over these areas Monday afternoon, and may produce heavy rainfall.
Additional rainfall amounts of one to two inches, with isolated higher amounts possible. Given that the grounds are saturated, this additional rainfall will run off and could produce flash flooding.
Click here for additional safety information
Precautionary/Preparedness Actions: You should monitor later forecasts and be alert for possible Flood Warnings. Those living in areas prone to flooding should be prepared to take action should flooding develop.
May 10, 2024 - The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the whereabouts of Tammy Sue Sims, 41, of Center. Sims is described as a 5’5 inch white female and weighs approximately 165 pounds.
Sims has an active warrant for theft, a state jail felony offense.
The SCSO is seeking assistance from the public in locating Sims. If you have any information regarding her whereabouts, please contact the SCSO (936) 598-5601, or call/text SCSO CID Sergeant Aaron Jones at 936-572-7559. Pictured is the truck Sims is known to be driving.
If anyone is found to be hindering the apprehension, harboring or concealing, providing or aiding with any means of avoiding arrest or effecting escape, or warns Sims of impending discovery or apprehension, will be arrested and charged in accordance with Penal Code 38.05, Hindering Apprehension or Prosecution, a Felony 3 offense.
May 9, 2024 - Severe Thunderstorm Watch 224 is in effect until 12am CDT for the following locations.
Texas counties included are: Anderson, Angelina, Bastrop, Bell, Blanco, Brazos, Burleson, Burnet, Caldwell, Cherokee, Falls, Freestone, Gillespie, Grimes, Hays, Henderson, Houston, Lee, Leon, Limestone, Llano, Madison, Milam, Nacogdoches, Navarro, Panola, Polk, Robertson, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Travis, Trinity, Walker, Williamson.
May 9, 2024 - This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for south central Arkansas, southwest Arkansas, north central Louisiana, northwest Louisiana, southeast Oklahoma, east Texas and northeast Texas.
Day One - Today and tonight: Showers and thunderstorms are expected to redevelop this afternoon and evening near the slow moving front, with the severe weather threat for damaging winds, hail and an embedded tornado or two over the region.
Days Two Through Seven - Friday through Wednesday: End of the week and into the start of the weekend will begin quiet as high pressure dominates the local area. Showers and thunderstorms return Sunday afternoon and to start next week.
Spotter Information Statement: Spotter activation will likely be needed.
May 8, 2024 - A hearing held in the 273rd Judicial District Court May 7, 2024, saw Ethan Myers plead guilty to the 2022 murder of Sarah Hopson.
Through plea agreement, Myers received a sentence of 60 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division (TDCJ-ID) for the murder of Sarah Hopson which was reported on November 13, 2022.
In court, Myers was present with his attorney Holly Hammons. As the hearing began Myers, Hammons and District Attorney Karren Price approached the bench of Honorable Judge James Payne and Price asked that Myers, for the record, state whether or not he committed the acts alleged in the indictment against him. As asked, Judge Payne inquired of Myers if he was indeed pleading guilty to those charges included in the indictment and if he was pleading guilty, because he is guilty and Myers agreed that he committed the acts in the indictment and that he is in fact guilty.
Price requested also that Myers state the name of his victim, and he complied, stating her name was Sarah “Hospon,” and Judge Payne asked him again to repeat her name to which he once again said Sarah “Hospon.”
Judge Payne accepted Myers' plea and accepted that the evidence supported his plea, and Judge Payne convicted Myers of the murder and sentenced him to 60 years incarceration in the TDCJ-ID with credit for time served of 527 days.
As the court was set to adjourn, Price asked for clarification on the record from Judge Payne of a finding of a deadly weapon, and he concurred.
Myers was then escorted out of the courtroom by Shelby County Sheriff’s Captain D.J. Dickerson, Chief Chad Hooper and Deputy Misty Ray.
District Attorney Price was available for comment on the case, and the resulting conviction of Myers.
Myers was sentenced to 60 years in prison, and many may wonder how long that actually means he would have to spend in prison. Price confirmed he will be in prison for 30 years before being considered for parole.
“That’s the importance of the deadly weapon finding, that we went back on the record to be sure that the judge understood, that there’s a deadly weapon finding in the judgment,” said Price.
If this hadn’t been noted, there would have been a possibility Myers could have been released whenever Pardons and Paroles deemed acceptable, and probably a third of the sentence. In this case, half will have to be served before he will be eligible.
Price said that no one gets parole the first time around, and when there’s a deadly weapon finding in a case the parole board really will look intently at that factor. When an individual becomes eligible for parole, the board is required to set it a second time within 10 years of the first time they deny parole for an inmate.
“He’s probably looking at close to 40 [years], which is essentially life for him,” said Price.
There was no statement from Myers as to his reasoning for killing Hopson, or why he did it in the way that he did.
“20 minutes after he’s arrested until today when he actually mentioned Sarah’s name in court he had no memory of any of that, which is why I wanted him to say her name on the record,” said Price. “Some admission, that yeah, he knew exactly what he was doing.”
Price referred back to the phone call Myers made to his mother after Hopson was murdered, telling her, “Sarah wanted him to sacrifice her.” Through testimony of different sources, Price learned that Sarah was in love with Myers and thought he “hung the moon.”
Price contends that if Hopson were aware of the “sacrifice,” Myers wouldn’t likely have drugged her and then struck her in the head with a rock before proceeding to dismember her.
Hopson’s mother was looking forward to closure, said Price, and Price really wasn’t looking forward to she or Myers' mother being exposed to the evidence presented in court, due to its terrible nature.
“In my 40 years here, there's only been one other that matches it in so far as gruesomeness goes,” said Price.
Price said she couldn’t find any ritualistic material to indicate the murder was part of any satanic worship and she hasn’t found any evidence to support that suggestion.
Myers was examined by two separate doctors not connected to one another, and each came to the same exact conclusion that he’s a narcissist personality.
Price believes Myers said “Hospon” in court because he really didn’t know her last name, “she wasn’t important to him.”
Although drugs were detected in Hopson’s system, according to Price, no drugs were found to be in Myers system.
“He was stone cold sober when he killed her. She was not,” said Price.
Teresa Louviere and Allen Price, co-defendants with Myers, have been determined to not be complicit in Myers’ crime as no DNA evidence connected either one of them to the room where Hopson was murdered.
The charges to each of murder, first degree felony; and tampering with physical evidence, second degree felony, have all been dismissed against them.
Related Articles:
Martin R. Galvan, 33, of Center
May 10, 2024 - Galavan surrendered himself to the SCSO May 9, 2024.
May 8, 2024 - The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the whereabouts of Martin R. Galvan, 33, of Center. Galvan is described as a 5’8” Hispanic male and weighs approximately 185 pounds.
Galvan has an active warrant for Assault Causing Bodily Injury, a Misdemeanor A offense.
The SCSO is seeking assistance from the public in locating Galvan. If you have any information regarding his whereabouts, please contact the SCSO (936) 598-5601, or call/text SCSO Captain DJ Dickerson at (936) 572-0255.
If anyone is found to be hindering the apprehension, harboring or concealing, providing or aiding with any means of avoiding arrest or effecting escape, or warns Galvan of impending discovery or apprehension, will be arrested and charged in accordance with Penal Code 38.05, Hindering Apprehension or Prosecution, a Felony 3 offense.
May 8, 2024 - Stevie Smith, Commissioner Precinct 3, announces the closure of CR 3290. He states this is only the middle section, which won’t affect residents. No Through traffic at this time for the safety of drivers to allow a land owner to take down around 75 trees from a back slope of a ditch.
Commissioner Smith will reopen the roadway when the operation is complete, and expects that to be no later than Thursday.
May 7, 2024 - The jury that has been summoned for Monday, May 20, 2024 for the 273rd District Court Honorable James A. Payne, Jr., Judge presiding has been cancelled. All cases have been passed or settled.
Anyone receiving a summons for that day is released from jury service until they receive a future summons.
Thank you,
Lori Oliver
District Clerk
Shelby County, Texas
May 5, 2024 - This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of south central Arkansas, southwest Arkansas, north central Louisiana, northwest Louisiana, southeast Oklahoma, east Texas and northeast Texas.
Day One: This Afternoon and Tonight, isolated to scattered thunderstorms are expected later this afternoon through at least early this evening. While a stray severe storm cannot be ruled out, the strongest storms will generally have the capability of producing small hail, strong wind gusts, frequent lightning, and locally heavy rainfall.
Days Two Through Seven: Monday through Saturday, there will be a chance of strong to severe thunderstorms late Monday into Monday night, mainly north and west of the I-30 Corridor which includes Southeast Oklahoma, far Northeast Texas and portions of Southwest Arkansas.
Additional probabilities of strong to severe thunderstorms will be possible late Wednesday into Thursday and Thursday Night. A cold front will begin pushing into the region from the northwest and strong to severe thunderstorms will be possible along and in advance of this feature. In addition to severe weather chances, locally heavy rainfall will also be likely late Wednesday through late Thursday.
Spotter Information Statement: Spotter activation should not be needed through tonight.
May 5, 2024 - (Update - 1:57pm): County Road 1446 is clear and passable.
(Update - 12:36pm): The roadway is clear and open to traffic again on Tenaha Street.
(Update - 11:25am): Shelby County Today has been informed there is a tree across County Road 1446 at County Road 1490.
A tree has fallen across Tenaha Street near Kennedy Street in Center May 5, 2024, and driver’s should use an alternate route.
As of 10am, TxDOT is en-route to clear the area and SWEPCO is en-route to repair power lines that may be involved.
City of Center utility crew is at the scene and has indicated the impassable roadway.
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