Woman suspected of threatening to kill governor

Sources: Patricia Martin made death threats against Gov. Rick Perry, TDCJ chief

HOUSTON – A Houston woman has been suspected of threatening to kill a state prison official and Gov. Rick Perry.

Patricia Martin, 57, was taken into custody on Friday on a mental health warrant. She is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.

According to sources, Martin called state officials and told them that Perry and Brad Livingston, the executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, were about to be killed.

Rick Perry, Brad Livingston

The threat came a short time after Colorado's director of corrections, Tom Clements, was fatally shot at his home in Denver last week. The suspect in that case, parolee Even Spence Ebel, was shot and killed by police in north Texas after a high-speed chase.

State officials said they considered the threat to be credible. Martin has a long arrest record that includes charges of assault and theft.

Harris County Precinct 1's mental health warrant division took Martin into custody.

"You can never ignore those types of threats, especially coming off the heels of another situation in where there was an administrator killed by somebody that obviously had some mental illness issues," Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Alan Rosen said.