PANOLA COUNTY (KYTX) -- A Panola County woman is in jail today after admitting to shooting and killing her husband during an argument.
At about 9:10 P.M. Tuesday, April 28, the Panola County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call from a woman screaming that she had just shot her husband. She provided the dispatcher with an address on Panola County Road 121. Panola County deputies along with Troopers from the Texas Dept. of Public Safety responded to the location.
Upon arrival officers encountered a female, later identified as Sarah Venable, in front of the residence and she stated she has shot her husband in the head. Deputies entered the house and in one of the bedrooms observed a white male, later identified as James Venable lying face up on the floor with an apparent gunshot wound to the back of the head. Also observed on the kitchen counter was a .380 semi-automatic pistol with a spent shell jammed in the receiver.
Ms. Venable was questioned and she reported she and her husband got into a verbal argument over her losing her job earlier that day and her husband exited the living room into one of the bedrooms. She then went to the master bedroom and retrieved the gun from under the mattress, walked into the other bedroom and fired one shot, striking him in the back of the head.
Sheriff's investigators arrived and processed the crime scene. The weapon was secured as evidence and Mr. Venable was transported to the Southwest Crime Lab in Dallas for autopsy. Ms. Venable was taken to the Panola County Sheriff's Office and further questioned by investigators at which time she was placed under arrest for murder and transported to the Panola County Detention Center where she is awaiting arraignment. Reports will be completed and forwarded to the Panola County Criminal District Attorney's Office.
