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LA PORTE, Texas - A 39-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the 2012 homicide of a 16-month-old boy after a renewed investigation by the La Porte Police Department and the Texas Attorney General’s Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit uncovered new evidence that investigators say established probable cause.
What we know:
La Porte police announced that Eric Johnson was taken into custody by department detectives in connection with the death of 16-month-old Shawn McCloskey. The arrest follows new investigative developments uncovered by the Attorney General’s Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit after the case was reviewed during the agency’s Texas Solves: Collaboration Workshop in May 2026.
Eric Johnson
The backstory:
The investigation began on July 19, 2012, when Shawn’s mother found him unresponsive after Johnson, who was her boyfriend at the time, had been caring for the toddler the previous night.
Shawn was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
According to investigators, an autopsy determined the child suffered multiple blunt force injuries comparable to those typically seen in a high-speed automobile collision. The medical examiner ruled Shawn’s death a homicide.
La Porte detectives conducted an extensive investigation in 2012 and interviewed numerous witnesses. Police said Johnson was identified early in the investigation as the primary suspect, but prosecutors did not have sufficient evidence at the time to file criminal charges, and the case remained unsolved for 14 years.
Dig deeper:
In May 2026, La Porte investigators submitted the case to the Attorney General’s Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit for review.
Following the two-day workshop, investigators from both agencies worked together to reexamine the evidence and develop new investigative strategies. Police said that collaborative effort, built on the foundation of the original investigation, produced the information needed to establish probable cause for Johnson’s arrest.
The Source: La Porte Police Department news release