shaun earl arender

CORSICANA, Texas (AP) ― A neighbor of a 6-year-old girl who was found hanged in her family's garage has been charged with sexual assault and capital murder, authorities said Friday.

Hanna Mack's body was found earlier this month by her mother. Authorities said the first-grader had been sexually assaulted and hanged.

Shaun Earl Arender, 19, was linked to the crime scene by DNA evidence, Navarro County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Mike Cox said Friday. Arender lived less than a mile from the little girl's rural home, about 65 miles south of Dallas.

Arender was already in jail on unrelated burglary and drug possession charges. A DNA sample taken from the shirt Hanna was wearing was entered into a Texas Department of Public Safety DNA indexing program Wednesday, and it indicated Arender was a possible match, according to the arrest affidavit.

Arender was questioned Wednesday, and, according to the affidavit "would not give a statement, but put his head on the table and cried."

Two days earlier, he had cut himself with a piece of glass while in custody on the burglary charge and was taken to a hospital "because he was depressed," according to the affidavit.

His bond is set at $2.5 million. It wasn't immediately clear if Arender had a lawyer who could comment.

Family members have said Hanna's mother, Dana Mack, saw the youngest of her three daughters sleeping on the couch around 1 a.m. the morning of Sept. 10. She realized Hanna was missing just before sunrise, and found her body in a garage near the family house.

"I'm just absolutely shocked," said neighbor Pam Gray. "I'll never have that sense of trust here again."
NAVARRO COUNTY Officials have arrested a neighbor and charged him with capital murder in the death earlier this month of a Navarro County girl.

Officials arrested Shaun Earl Arender, 19, and charged him with capital murder in the Hanna Mack murder, authorities said at a news conference Friday morning.

Navarro County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Mike Cox said Arender lived less than a mile from the Mack's rural home about 65 miles south of Dallas. He was already in jail on unrelated burglary and drug possession charges.

Cox said DNA evidence linked Arender to the crime scene. His bond is set at $2.5 million.

The 6-year-old girl was found hanging in the family garage on Sept. 10.

Dana Mack's live-in boyfriend Kevin Wayne Anders was arrested two days after the little girl's body was found. He was charged with possession of child pornography. Bond was set at $100,000 and he remains jailed.

At the time of his arrest Anders was considered a 'person of interest' in Hanna's death, but not charged in that crime.

Stay with cbs11tv.com for further details on this developing story.


(? 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. )
CORSICANA, Texas (AP) - A neighbor of a 6-year-old Navarro County girl found hanged and sexually assaulted in her family's garage -- is now accused of killing her.

Investigators today announced 19-year-old Shaun Earl Arender charged with capital murder in the death of Hanna Mack.

The body of the first-grader was found hanging from the garage rafters on September 10th.

Authorities say Arender lives less than one mile from the Mack's rural home, about 65 miles south of Dallas.

Arender was already in jail on unrelated burglary and drug possession charges when officials announced he's now charged in the girl's death.

A DNA sample taken from the shirt Hanna was wearing was entered into a Department of Public Safety DNA indexing program.

The arrest affidavit says the results indicated Arender was a possible match.

Arender's bond is $2.5 million.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.