A woman died early Monday after a man who claimed she robbed him at knifepoint beat her with a metal rod in a downtown Austin alley, according to the Austin Police Department.
As of Monday evening, no charges had been filed, but police had interviewed a person of interest and the matter was still being investigated, according to a Police Department news release.
A witness alerted Austin police officers at 1:38 a.m. Monday a woman was bleeding in an alley in the 500 block of East Sixth Street, according to a news release. Officers discovered a woman on the ground with blood on her clothing; she was sent to a hospital and ultimately died.
The woman was later identified as Shannon Smith, 42.
The individual who notified police about the woman stated he knew who was responsible, and officers tracked down Gregory Watkins, 54. Watkins informed police that Smith “had approached him with a knife and robbed him of his money and crack,” according to the press release.
Watkins claimed he struck Smith once, “and it appears this was with a metal rod he had been holding,” according to the news release.
The Travis County District Attorney’s Office handled the case, according to the news release. Watkins was interviewed and then released.
Anyone with information on the killing is asked to call the Police Department’s homicide unit at 512-477-3588 or the tip line at 512-472-8477.
