Man accused of fatally shooting Winnsboro corrections officer

BOWIE COUNTY, Texas (KLTV) - A man has been arrested in connection with the murder of a Johnston Unit corrections officer.

According to a release from Bowie County Sheriff Jeff Neal, Corrections Officer Charles Beckham returned home to DeKalb in the early morning hours last Thursday and interrupted a man burglarizing his home. The man allegedly shot Beckham multiple times outside of his house, then burned his body and his truck in an attempt to destroy evidence.

A woman came to visit Beckham a few hours later and “stumbled upon the gruesome murder of her friend,” the sheriff said.

The man shot her also and left the scene after taking her car, the release says.

Clyde Allen Stephens II, 34, of Higginson, Ark., was caught in the stolen vehicle in Searcy, Ark.

He faces charges of theft and fleeing in Arkansas, and Neal said he will be brought back to Bowie County to face a capital murder charge once the earlier charges are addressed.

KLTV has reached out to the sheriff’s office for more information on the charges related to the victims.