Man shot, killed by BCSO faced prison time for violating probation in manslaughter case

Ryan Stanush, 33, died Saturday after attacking sister and deputy at scene, BCSO says

SAN ANTONIO – A man who was shot and killed Saturday morning after Bexar County Sheriff’s investigators said he attacked his sister and a deputy who responded to the scene has been identified as 33-year-old Ryan Stanush.

Stanush punched his sister in the face inside a home in the 8000 block of Versant Bluff, leaving her with facial lacerations, before attacking a deputy outside the residence, Sheriff Javier Salazar previously said.

Stanush, at the time of his death, was on probation for a 2018 manslaughter case.

He was charged in the December 2018 death of Dorinda Ma, 25.

Stanush took Ma to a local hospital and first claimed the injuries were the result of rough sex.

Ma died from her injuries shortly after being taken to the hospital.

Charges were later upgraded against Stanush and a special prosecutor was assigned to the case, due to a conflict of interest within the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, a source familiar with the previous charge told KSAT.

Stanush pleaded no contest to manslaughter in November 2019 and was given 10 years of community supervision, court records show.

Stanush faced possibility of 20 years in prison

The special prosecutor in the manslaughter case had repeatedly filed motions to revoke Stanush’s probation and to change the adjudication in the case to guilty after Stanush repeatedly violated the conditions of his community supervision.

Motions to change the adjudication to guilty were filed in July 2021, last December and as recently as May 19, records obtained Tuesday by KSAT Investigates show.

Stanush would have faced up to 20 years in prison had the judge overseeing the case agreed to the change in adjudication, the special prosecutor, Joey Contreras, told KSAT Tuesday.

Stanush was killed before a hearing date on the most recent motion could be set.

Stanush’s probation violations included being arrested for misdemeanor family violence in an unrelated case, repeated use of controlled substances, failure to submit to a drug test and failure to report to his probation officer.

A majority of the violations took place between May and June 2021, county records show.

The special prosecutor had been notified about each probation violation, Bexar County Community Supervision & Corrections Department Director Jarvis Anderson told KSAT via telephone.

It remained unclear Tuesday why Stanush’s probation had not been formally revoked by the court prior to his death.

In mid-December, he was ordered by the court to wear a GPS tracking device and abide by a curfew, records show.


About the Authors

Emmy-award winning reporter Dillon Collier joined KSAT Investigates in September 2016. Dillon's investigative stories air weeknights on the Nightbeat and on the Six O'Clock News. Dillon is a two-time Houston Press Club Journalist of the Year and a Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Reporter of the Year.

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