Who is Shawn Adkins and what is his connection to Hailey Dunn?
Adkins is scheduled to be in court through the months of May and June. Here is a recap of the case and what brought him to this point.
Shawn Adkins, the man accused of killing Colorado City teen Hailey Dunn, is set to soon face a jury.
Over a decade after her death and disappearance had gone unsolved, Adkins was arrested and charged with her murder.
Hailey Dunn's disappearance and death
Hailey Dunn was a teenager who attended Colorado City High School.
The daughter of Clinton and Billie Jean Dunn, Hailey was involved in volleyball, softball and basketball in addition to being a cheerleader and a saxophone player.
She was last seen December 27, 2010 at her home. Court documents show investigators believe Billie's boyfriend at the time, Shawn Adkins, was the last person to see her.
Word of her disappearance made national headlines as the community rallied together to search for her.
Adkins was named a person of interest; however, no suspects were ever declared and no arrests were ever made.
No leads were made in the case until March 16, 2013, when Hailey's body was found on land belonging to Adkin's family in Scurry County. It took over a month for authorities to positively identify her body.
Hailey was finally able to be laid to rest in 2017, after investigators released her body to her mother.
Since then, investigators continued to pursue answers, with the case changing jurisdictions and getting a new investigator.
The home where Hailey once lived has been demolished, and Clint Dunn continued to advocate for justice for his daughter.
Shawn Adkins' arrest, indictment and arraignment
Texas Rangers arrested Adkins in Big Spring on June 14, 2021, after they said they collected DNA samples that linked him to the murder of Hailey Dunn.
Adkins was booked into the Howard County Jail on an arrest warrant HCSO said the Nolan County District Attorney's Office issued.
He was later transferred to the Mitchell County Jail, the county where Hailey went missing, and his bail was set at $2 million.
A press release was issued on June 16, 2021, stating that Nolan County District Attorney Richard Thompson consulted with the Texas Rangers in 2020, which resulted in a new look into the case.
Adkins was identified as the suspect following interviews and a search warrant rangers obtained for his DNA.
A Mitchell County grand jury indicted Adkins for the murder on Dec. 30, 2021.
The indictment stated Adkins knowingly committed “homicide, intentionally and knowingly concealing a human corpse with intent to impair its availability as evidence in any subsequent investigation or official proceeding related to the offense.”
Court documents state Adkins caused the death of Hailey Dunn by “striking her in the head with an unknown blunt object.”
An arraignment was scheduled for Adkins on Jan. 27, 2022. That arraignment was canceled after he waived his right to have his charges read in a courtroom.
Where does it go from here?
Adkins has several dates set in the 32nd Judicial District Court throughout the months of May and June.
Pretrial is set for 9 a.m. on May 26, followed by an appearance docket at 9 a.m. on June 16 and his trial starting at 8:30 a.m. on June 28.
NewsWest 9 will have a crew at the courthouse Thursday for Adkins’ scheduled pretrial. Stay with NewsWest 9 for the latest on the case as it moves through the court.