Daniel Lee Martin Dead From Apparent Suicide Amid Investigation for Child Sex Crimes
Country singer Daniel Lee Martin has committed suicide, per TMZ. At the time of his death the 54-year-old was under investigation for child sex abuse charges in both Florida and Tennessee.
Martin died from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office in Florida.
Martin was arrested in Florida in January on both misdemeanor and felony charges for exposure to and lewd acts on a child. The victim, who is under the age of 16, told police that Martin had exposed himself while they were on a couch together, fondled himself with lotion and shared pornographic images with the victim. The incidents took place over several occasions when the victim spent the night at Martin's home.
Hours after being arrested and booked on January 27, Martin was was released on $15,000 bail.
A SWAT team discovered Martin deceased by suicide on Friday, Feb. 14, when they went to his home in Florida to arrest him on "3-counts of sexual exploitation on a minor, along with aggravated sexual battery and solicitation of a minor to commit rape," Tampa Bay Times reports. He had active warrants in Tennessee, and Pasco deputies had tried to contact him repeatedly about similar charges.
Less than two years ago, Martin was arrested in Williamson County, Tenn., and later indicted by a grand jury in September of 2018 on "four counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of aggravated sexual battery, two counts of solicitation of a minor to commit rape of a child, two counts of indecent exposure and one count of solicitation of a minor" that took place from 2014-2018, the Tampa Bay Times reported last month. Those three victims were children ranging from 9 to 12 years old at the time.
Martin became a country singer in 1997 and is also known for his time on the television show Brotherhood Outdoors. He released country albums All That I Am album in 2003 and On My Way to You in 2007. His last-known country single was a song called "Sometimes Angels Can't Fly."