Sheriff’s Office: Murder Suspect Commits Suicide

The search for a Howard County murder ended early Saturday afternoon. Authorities had sought 56 year old Tony Barnes in connection with the fatal shooting of 50 year old Betty Renee Burgess Friday morning in Athens.

Howard County Sheriff Bryan McJunkins said authorities had obtained a first degree murder warrant for Barnes and conducted a search of his property on Muddy Ford Road Friday.

Around noon Saturday, Sheriff McJunkins said his office received a call confirming Barnes’ pickup had been seen in the Newhope area.

A short time later, another call was received reporting the truck was traveling south on Highway 369.

Howard County Sheriff’s deputies and other law enforcement agencies responded to Barnes property and discovered he had already arrived.

Sheriff McJunkin said officers positioned themselves around the house and property and learned Barnes was near a pond bank close to the house. The sheriff said officers could see Barnes and noticed he had a long gun, later determined to be a shotgun. Around 1:10 p.m., authorities said they heard a single gunshot fired and cautiously approached Barnes to discover he had used the shotgun to kill himself.