A Port Acres man was arrested Thursday afternoon, accused in the Feb. 24th death of the woman with whom he lived.

It was the first murder charge of the year in Port Arthur, where 14 homicides were recorded in 2018. That was up from five the previous year. Port Acres is a section of Port Arthur, west of Highway 69.

Police marched Daniel Shackleford, about 34, shackled and with head bowed, out the back door of the Port Arthur Police Station shortly before 5 p.m., about an hour after Jefferson County warrant officers and Port Arthur police made the arrest. Bespectacled and slender, he wore jeans and a short-sleeved gray shirt with no jacket, as rain fell lightly. He was taken away in a brown Ford SUV, headed for the Jefferson County Correctional Facility, after officers carefully guided him into the backseat on the passenger side.

Detective Mike Hebert, department spokesman, said the charge was murder, first degree.

The case was initially termed an “unattended death” after the woman was found around midnight on a Sunday, unresponsive at the couple’s home. Police said the two lived together in the 2100 block of Birch Avenue, a narrow street, not far from West Port Arthur Road, with some two dozen single-family dwellings, many of them worn and some uninhabited. Hebert described the two as “in a relationship,” which he later called “boyfriend-girlfriend.”

Police said she was pronounced dead at the scene on Birch Avenue. In an issued statement Thursday, police said an autopsy later revealed she died of blunt force trauma. After further investigation, police arrested Shackleford.

Police said Shackleford drew their attention from the start of the investigation.

“He was always a person of interest,” Hebert said.

The woman’s name was still not revealed, pending notification of family members.

Hebert said Shackleford’s name was not immediately known to authorities.

“Domestic violence is difficult to stop,” Hebert said. Most such crimes occur inside the home and are “difficult to predict,” he said.

Hebert said counseling for domestic violence victims is available at the station. Police officers distribute information about domestic violence “at scenes,” he said.