Man, 86, found dead in northeast Harris Co., daughter charged

HUFFMAN, TX (KTRK) -- We have brand new information in the case of an 86-year-old man found murdered in his home in Huffman.

His 45-year-old daughter has been arrested and charged with his death, and we're learning the man was dead in the house for two days.

It happened a home on Gum Tree near Vanya Tuesday night.

Deputies say they found the man dead on the kitchen floor. His daughter, Janice Byrnes, is charged with killing him.

"He was just a nice old man," said neighbor Robert Zwego. He'd never hurt nobody."

Investigators say he had been dead in the house two days.

According to court paperwork, Byrnes said she and her father got into an argument on Sunday.

She thinks her father tried to poison her. That argument turned into a physical fight.

Byrnes told investigators she got so angry she blacked out. The next thing she remembered, her father was dead on the floor. She believes she pushed him.

Deputies say Byrnes went to a neighbor's home, confessed to killing her father and that neighbor called 911.

Court records from April of last year show Byrnes has hurt her father before. The paperwork says she shoved him hard and he hit a wall.

"She really is a normal person, with just a bunch of bad circumstances that led to that," said Zwego.

Now Byrnes is in jail and his house sits empty as investigators keep trying to understand what went so wrong.

"She's regretting it," said neighbor Chelsey Phares. "Can you imagine?"