A paroled murderer is believed to have killed the daughter of a woman he killed 24 years ago, according to a local sheriff.

Travis Santay Lewis, 39, is suspected of killing Martha McKay - a member of the influential Snowden family - who was found dead at the Snowden House at Horseshoe Lake in Arkansas on Wednesday.

Lewis drowned when fleeing from authorities, Crittenden County Sheriff Mike Allen said in a statement.

Travis Santay Lewis, 39, is suspected of killing Martha McKay - a member of the Snowden family - who was found dead at the Snowden House at Horseshoe Lake on Wednesday

'Deputies today responded to an alarm at the historical Snowden House in Horseshoe Lake,' Allen said, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

'Two deputies that arrived found an open back door and upon clearing the house located a possible suspect who jumped from an upstairs window and ran to a vehicle that he drove across the yard and got stuck in the yard.

'The suspect then jumped from the car and ran and jumped into the lake. He was observed going under the water and never came back up.'

According to the sheriff, the department's rescue team and Arkansas Game and Fish used sonar equipment to find Lewis' body.

The Snowden House - built in 1919 - is just miles away from where McKay's mother, Sally Snowden McKay, was murdered with her nephew in 1996

McKay was found dead inside the home.

A state medical examiner is still determining the cause of death but witnesses at the scene claim McKay was stabbed while others claimed a hammer had been used as the weapon.

The Snowden House - built in 1919 - is just miles away from where McKay's mother, Sally Snowden McKay, was murdered alongside her nephew in 1996.

Lewis was just 17 when he pleaded guilty to killing McKay and nephew, guitarist Lee Baker, in 1996. He was sentenced to 28-and-a-half years for the killings.

Baker was a well known guitarist in Memphis who was associated with such acts like Moloch and Mud Boys & Neutron.

Lewis was paroled in 2018.