Conroe Man Charged with Murder in July 2023 Slaying of Patrick Ray Jones
Conroe Police officials have detailed the evidence that led to murder charges against William C. Deans, 41, in connection with the fatal shooting of Patrick Ray Jones, 47, on Gladstell Street last July. Deans was formally charged on March 12, 2024, after DNA and ballistic evidence linked him to the crime.
The investigation began on July 22, 2023, around 1:40 AM, when a citizen discovered Jones's body in the street in the 800 block of Gladstell Street in Conroe. Responding officers confirmed Jones had sustained a gunshot wound. Investigators from the Conroe Police Department, joined by the Texas Rangers, quickly arrived at the scene to process the area. An autopsy conducted the following day, July 23, 2023, confirmed the death as a homicide.
During the initial phase of the investigation, detectives collected two critical pieces of evidence from the crime scene. DNA was recovered from Jones's hand, and several spent shell casings were found nearby. These items were immediately sent to specialized forensic laboratories for analysis: the DNA evidence was submitted to the DPS Crime Lab, and the spent shell casings were sent to the ATF lab for ballistics examination.
The breakthrough in the case came several months later. In February 2024, the results from the DPS Crime Lab identified William C. Deans as the source of the DNA found on Jones's hand. Following this, in March 2024, the ballistics report from the ATF lab further solidified the case, confirming that the shell casings recovered from the Gladstell Street scene matched a firearm previously linked to Deans.
Armed with this conclusive evidence, authorities moved to charge Deans. He was already in custody, having been taken into custody on March 11, 2024, for an unrelated probation violation. The formal murder charge was filed against him the very next day, March 12, 2024.
William C. Deans is currently being held in the Montgomery County Jail on a $200,000 bond. The Montgomery County District Attorney's Office has taken over the prosecution of the case.
