The singer was found dead at a home in Florida when law enforcement deputies attempted to serve multiple warrants related to charges of sexual abuse of minors.
- Feb 17, 2020
AceShowbiz - Country singer Daniel Lee Martin died of apparent suicide while awaiting trial for child sex charges. The Nashville-area star, who was also a former reality TV host, is believed to have killed himself after an arrest on similar allegations in Florida.
On Friday, February 14, Martin failed to show up for a court hearing in his sex crimes case in Tennessee scheduled in the morning. The court then issued a new warrant that would have dragged him back to Tennessee. Williamson County District Attorney Kim Helper says, "He did not appear. And we knew he was in Florida, so we notified the authorities in Pasco County that we had a new warrant for him to be picked up."
When Pasco deputies arrived at a residence in New Port Richey, Florida, on Friday afternoon and attempted to serve him the Tennessee warrant, they had no response from Martin. A SWAT team was then called in, because the 54-year-old had made threats against himself and others before, and found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot.
Benecia Holder, a spokeswoman for the Pasco Sheriff's Office, says Martin was last seen alive by his mother at about 12:30 P.M., but before deputies arrived at his home.
Martin was indicted on child sex crimes in Williamson County, Tennessee in 2018. He allegedly committed crimes against three victims under the age of 13 between May 2014 and January 2018. After his 2018 arrest, Martin appears to have moved to Florida.
On January 27 of this year, Martin was also arrested in Pasco after a young girl told cops that Martin exposed himself and performed a lewd act in her presence while showing her pornography. Cops found numerous incidents where the victim spent the night at Martin's home. For this incident, he was charged for lewd and lascivious exhibition and prohibition of certain acts in connection with obscenity. His was freed after posting a $15,000 bail.
Martin performed at CMA Music Festival in 2004 and participated in a celebrity hunting and fishing competition at the event in 2009. He released albums "All That I Am" in 2003 and "On My Way to You" in 2007. He had also hosted three television shows, "Brotherhood Outdoors" and "Backstage and Backroads", both on the Sportsman Channel and " 'Till Death Do Us Part" on CarbonTV.
