Suspect in killing of Trooper Chad Walker now suspected in murder of East Texas man

PALESTINE, Texas (KLTV) - Investigators with the Palestine Police Department believe they have evidence connecting the man accused of fatally shooting a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper to the murder of an Anderson County man.

Nearly a year after the March 2021 murder of Dustin Rogers in Palestine, Chief of Police Mark Harcrow said ballistics testing confirmed the same weapon was used in the shooting of Trooper Chad Walker in Limestone County. Walker was shot and killed on March 26, 2021, in Limestone County.

DeArthur Pinson Jr., a Palestine man accused of killing Walker, took his own life before he could be taken into custody.

The investigation into Rogers’ death is now closed, Harcrow said. The circumstances behind the shooting are still unknown.

On March 20, 2021, Palestine police responded to a shooting near Spring and Magnolia streets. Officers found Rogers and his then 6-year-old son suffered gunshot wounds. Rogers died as a result of his injuries; his son was treated and released.

Rogers’ wife and daughter, who were also in the vehicle, were not hurt.

Nearly a week later, Trooper Chad Walker stopped near the intersection of FM Road 2848 and US Highway 84 near Mexia to help a stranded driver -- later identified as Pinson -- and was shot multiple times, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety Officers Association. Walker later died from his injuries.

Pinson, Jr. later barricaded himself in a home off Highway 84 near Mexia where he died by suicide, authorities said.

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