Texas authorities nab murder suspect with cigarette butt
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
A breakthrough in a long-stalled murder case in Baytown, Texas, has come in the form of a discarded cigarette butt.
The Beaumont Enterprise reports that Byron Lloyd Collins was picked up by authorities last week at the same complex where 50-year-old Natalia Shal was discovered slain on May 8, 2016.
Crime scene DNA didn't initially match anything in police databases.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
In early 2017, investigators learned about using familial DNA testing to help identify suspects not already in the system.
In June, they got a hit, matching the DNA to Collins' brother in prison.
Surveilling Collins, police matched his discarded cigarette to the crime scene on Dec. 18.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The 29-year-old has been charged with capital murder and is being held without bond. It is not clear whether he has an attorney.