Texas Man Accused of Fatally Attacking Woman with Machete, Concrete Block Was Paroled Months Earlier

Richard Tanner Ozment had recently been released from a Texas prison after serving about 10 years of a 40-year sentence on a burglary conviction

An “exhaustive manhunt” ended with the arrest of a paroled man, charged with the slaying of a 38-year-old mother, who a Texas sheriff says was killed with a machete and concrete block.

Richard Tanner Ozment is charged with first-degree murder and as of Thursday morning, Sept. 26, was being held at McLennan County Jail, according to his online booking records.

Michaela Brooker was “very badly injured” but still alive when McLennan County deputies responded to the China Spring, Texas, address, where Ozment had been living next door to his parents after receiving parole, Sheriff Parnell McNamara said at a press conference streamed by KCENNews.

The mother – who had “extensive injuries, mainly to her head,” according to McNamara – was flown to Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Temple, Texas, where she died, per the criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE.

“This is one of the most horrific, horrible, brutal, senseless attacks that we have seen in a long time,” McNamara said at the press conference. “It never should have happened.”

McNamara said Ozment had been sentenced to 40 years in prison on a previous criminal conviction and served about 10 years before he was paroled out a few months ago.

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Ozment was indicted on multiple counts of burglary in 2014, and per McLennan County online court records, waived his right to a jury trial and entered a guilty plea in the case. In 2015 he was sentenced to 40 years behind bars.

PEOPLE contacted the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for confirmation of his prison release date, but they did not respond in time for publication.

“Anytime you see somebody parole out early like this, and then they commit this kind of crime, it's senseless,” McNamara added of the Saturday, Sept. 21, morning slaying.

Ozment’s mother found her son “standing outside” and “very sweaty,” Saturday morning, per the complaint.

Sandra Ozment tried to walk past him but he “stepped in front of her and wouldn’t let her pass,” per the complaint, which noted that after pushing past anyway, “she reported seeing a human foot lying on ground behind an RV on the property.” (The sheriff clarified at the press conference that Brooker’s foot had not been severed from her body.)

“What have you done?” she yelled, per the complaint, which stated that his mother had retreated “into the house yelling and barricaded herself until responders arrived.”

Her husband dialed 911, despite Ozment’s pleas to his father not to, per the complaint, which noted that when first-responders arrived they “found a person outside the house fleeing from the scene.”

A multi-agency manhunt – complete with a helicopter and tracking dogs – ensued sometime after 9:00 a.m. and ended around 5:45 p.m., according to McNamara.

A deputy on horseback came upon Ozment – who was hiding by a stock tank and submerged under water – about 100 yards from the crime scene, per McNamara.

“We were horseback riding along the tank when I was able to see from his neck area to the top of his head,” Deputy Falcón said at the press conference, adding that he spotted Ozment – who was hiding under a tree limb in the water “when he shook his head and the water splattered.”

“At that moment, I told him to stay still till we got officers,” Falcón continued, adding that Ozment “tried to submerge his head back in there,” but he instructed him at gunpoint to remain above water, as the SWAT team surrounded him.

In a GoFundMe set up to help support Brooker’s child, loved ones said the “cherished mother” had been “a victim of a senseless act of violence.”

At the press conference Monday, Sept. 23, the sheriff said that Ozment and Brooker “knew each other,” but that further specifics of their interactions were not clear and that he did not know why Brooker was in the neighborhood. McNamara did not respond to PEOPLE’s Thursday request for additional information on the case.

McNamara said he had “no idea” what had led to the attack.

The sheriff said the machete allegedly used in the attack had been recovered and that the parents of Ozment had been cooperative.

As a juvenile Ozment had been charged with sexual assault, according to the sheriff who noted he did not know further particulars of the case. 

District Attorney Josh Tetens tells PEOPLE that Ozment has not entered a plea to the charges and a court date has not yet been scheduled in the case.

Ozment's defense lawyer, Bryan C. Cantrell, could not be immediately reached for comment.

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