AUSTIN -- The Austin police
officer on leave due to his ties with 29-year-old Samantha Dean, found dead in
Bastrop County last week, was identified Friday as Officer VonTrey Clark.
Multiple law enforcement
sources in Travis and Bastrop counties said Clark, 31, has been questioned
about his ties to Dean, who was seven months pregnant and was found dead with
three gunshot wounds to the head on Feb. 4 by a Bastrop County deputy in an
abandoned parking lot.
Clark, who has been on the
force since 2012, was placed on paid leave immediately after Dean's death. Law
enforcement sources are awaiting the results of a paternity test to determine
whether Clark fathered Dean's unborn daughter, Madeline.
According to Austin Police
Department records obtained by KVUE and the Austin American-Statesman, Clark
has received consistently high marks from supervisors during his three years at
APD. In performance evaluations from the past two years, sergeants said Clark
"handles calls with little needed guidance" and has demonstrated
"quick thinking an innovation on numerous calls."
The records state Clark has
used force multiple times, but it was always justified.
Records show Clark was also
suspended for three days in February 2013 after losing control of his police
car while trying to catch someone who ran a stop sign.
Detectives are also questioning
other Central Texas law enforcement authorities about their ties to Dean, who
worked as a victims services coordinator for the Kyle Police Department.
Officials with the Bastrop
County Sheriff's Office said in a warrant that the scene where Dean's body was
found in Bastrop appeared to have been staged or modified, and investigators do
not know the exact location of the murder.
Investigators have not named
any potential suspects in the case.
