On the night of Monday, January 26, 2026, 45-year-old Denise Tijerina was found in the kitchen of her Wagon Bend home in southeast Austin with a gunshot wound to the head. First responders arrived about 12:30 a.m.; she was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and died on Wednesday, January 28, 2026. Her death was counted as Austin’s sixth homicide of 2026.

Authorities located 39-year-old Samuel Boardman a short distance from the residence and detained him. Investigators concluded Boardman had been inside the home with Tijerina when the shooting occurred; he fled on foot afterward and declined to give a statement. He was initially arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and posted $5,000 bond on January 27, then was re-arrested on January 28 after prosecutors obtained a warrant charging him with first-degree murder.

The murder case against him is pending.

Did anyone in southeast Austin see activity near Wagon Bend that night or know Denise or Samuel’s movements leading up to January 26?