Husband of Instagram influencer killed himself as police tried to raid house to arrest him on a murder warrant, cops say

The husband of an Instagram influencer killed himself as officers moved to arrest him on a murder warrant, police said.

Tom Sharkey was wanted in connection to the death of Alexis Sharkey. She was found dead in the Houston area in November 2020.

The U.S. Marshals and Houston police both confirmed Tom Sharkey was wanted in connection to her murder. Michael Burrow, with the Houston Police Department, spoke during an Oct. 6 press conference and said Tom Sharkey was the only viable suspect.

"Thomas Sharkey, her husband, was the only person with the means, motive and opportunity to have committed the murder," Burrow said.

Police believe there were previous domestic violence incident and the couple’s relationship was ending at the time of her killing.

Alexis Sharkey was strangled to death.

Investigators say Tom Sharkey changed his story several times and detectives kept efforts to charge him secret. On Oct. 5, police went to a relative’s house in Florida where they believed Tom Sharkey was hiding. As they moved in to arrest him, Sharkey ran upstairs and killed himself with a gun, police said.

"The U.S. Marshals adopted a warrant for Thomas Sharkey, who was wanted out of Harris County, Texas, for murder. The U.S. Marshals Florida/Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force received a lead from the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Task Force in Houston that Sharkey was in the Fort Myers, Florida, area," a statement from the U.S. Marashals read. "U.S. Marshals located Sharkey at a residence in Fort Myers and later found him dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot inside of the residence."

Alexis Sharkey frequently posted on Instagram and had more than 30,000 at the time of her death, according to reports.

Burrow said the media coverage and social media posts about the case made the efforts to solve the case more difficult. He added detectives had to investigate several conspiracy theories that turned out to be false.

"It can be very difficult for the families involved because they see these things because they want to bring it our attention and they want to help,” Burrow said.