A teenage boy from the Wharton County community of East Bernard has been taken into custody in connection with the murder of a woman last Friday in a Sealy motel.
Authorities arrested the 15-year-old boy around 8 p.m. Monday evening and booked him into a Fort Bend County juvenile detention facility.
Police are saying little about the circumstances of the arrest or what led them to link the boy to the killing.
Authorities did reveal the boy, whose name was not released because of his age, had recently moved to Sealy and been staying at the motel with a family member.
The body of 30-year-old Sealy resident Lisa Camille Land was discovered around 5 p.m. last Friday in a room at the Best Budget Inn on North Circle Drive. Investigators said she had been beaten to death.
Motel manager Lawrence Garbs said Land had been living at the motel for several weeks. She was employed at nearby Hinze’s Barbecue, a popular Sealy restaurant.
Garbs told reporters he went to collect the rent from Land Friday afternoon. When he knocked on the door, he saw a man briefly look out a window but no one would answer the door.
After briefly returning to the office, Garbs returned to again attempt to collect the rent. When he got back to Land’s room, the door standing open and he could see Land’s body inside. Garbs then called police.
Family members said Land was living at the motel because it was the only place she could afford.
The Sealy Police Department and Texas Rangers are continuing the investigation.
