Man wanted for influencer wife's murder kills himself as police close in on him

The husband of social media influencer Alexis Sharkey, who was found dead last year, took his own life as officials closed in on him to arrest him for her murder.

The husband of 26-year-old social media influencer Alexis Sharkey, who was found dead in Houston last year, took his own life as officials closed in on him for his connection to her murder.

Alexis Sharkey died on Nov. 27, 2020, one day after Thanksgiving, and her body was found the following morning on the side of a road in Houston, Texas, officials said at the time. An autopsy found that she was strangled, and her death was ruled a homicide, The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences told ABC News.

Nearly one year later, on Sept. 29, Houston authorities issued an arrest warrant for her husband, Thomas "Tom" Sharkey, to later formally charge him in Harris County with her murder. Prior to that date, investigators hadn't officially named Tom Sharkey as a suspect in his wife's death.

Sgt. Michael Burrow of HPD's Homicide Division said in a press conference Wednesday that an investigation found that Tom was the only person who had the "means, motive and opportunity to have committed the murder."