A 23-year-old Cleveland man, Christopher Wayne Christy, is facing a Capital Murder charge stemming from the murder of a man whose body was found Oct. 30 on Wells Cemetery Road in Cleveland. Christy was arrested Wednesday evening during a traffic stop on FM 945 at Creekwood Drive in San Jacinto County that was conducted by Texas Rangers and Liberty County sheriff’s investigators.
According to Capt. Billy Knox, a spokesperson for Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, Christy also is charged with Tampering With Evidence. He is being held at the Liberty County Jail where he is undergoing questioning by investigators as of 8 p.m.
Knox said it is believed that Christy caused the death of the alleged victim, who has been tentatively identified as David Ronald Yockov, 53, of Cleveland. Yockov has been missing since Oct. 16. His truck, a 2000 GMC Sierra, was later found by authorities on the 500 block of CR 337 off of Plum Grove Road.
A motive for the murder is unknown at this time. A subsequent autopsy of the body failed to positively identify Yockov as the victim, but authorities are fairly confident that DNA testing will confirm it is him, Knox said. The coroner determined that the cause of death was blunt force trauma.
When asked if the two men knew each other, Knox said that investigators hope to have more questions answering after interrogating the suspect.
Wells Cemetery Road is located off of FM 1010 (Plum Grove Road) south of the SH 105 bypass. It is located just outside the Cleveland city limits, which is why this case is being investigated by the sheriff’s office and Texas Rangers.
A mugshot of the suspect is not available at this time. As soon as he has been booked in and photographed, his mugshot will be added to this article.
I just have one question how was this a traffic stop? I was giving him a ride up the rode to meet someone and then he decided to just go back home so I gave him a ride. I would not call this a traffic stop becauae there was no traffic laws broken I was turning down my road to go home and low and behold 15 cop cars surrounding me. Had me and my wife had known he had been issued a warrant for murder we never would have gave him a ride off our property, however it was related to the neighbors that he had a warrant now so she followed us and called the rangers. I am fine and well with this and them capturing him however it would have saved alit of embarrassment on my pay if they would have told us so we would have known not to give him a ride.i have never had a criminal history or ever been arrested and have always had the utmost respect for police and still always will just wish it would have been handled different so he would not have been in my car.