Vilonia Man Who Pleaded Guilty in Friend’s Shotgun Death Jailed Without Bond After New Arrest Hours Later

CONWAY, Ark. — A Vilonia man who pleaded guilty last week in the 2025 shotgun death of an 18-year-old friend is back behind bars after prosecutors say he was arrested on new felony charges the same night he entered his plea.

Faulkner County Circuit Judge Troy Braswell revoked Christopher Presley’s bond Monday and ordered him held without bond until he is sentenced Nov. 6.

Presley, 19, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Anthani Stephen Laca, who was shot in the face with a 12-gauge shotgun shortly before midnight on Jan. 11, 2025, at a home on Iroquois Lane in Faulkner County. On Sept. 23, Presley pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of negligent homicide, a Class D felony that carries up to six years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

The plea was to the court with no sentencing recommendation from the state. Presley asked for a presentence screening, and Braswell set sentencing for 9 a.m. Nov. 6. He remained free on the $100,000 bond he had posted in March 2025.

That lasted two days. According to a motion filed Monday by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Adrienne Criswell, Presley was arrested Sept. 25 in Lonoke County on felony charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, fleeing and unauthorized use of another person’s property to facilitate certain crimes. The motion says the offenses occurred at about 8:58 p.m. on Sept. 23, roughly 11 hours after his plea was filed in Conway.

“Defendant has violated his conditions of bond by committing new felony offenses while out on bond and waiting to be sentenced in the above case,” Criswell wrote.

Braswell signed the order revoking bond about 20 minutes after the motion was filed. A warrant for Presley’s arrest was issued the same morning directing that he be returned to Faulkner County.

Lonoke County jail records show Presley was booked at 8:21 p.m. Sept. 25 on charges of fleeing in a vehicle, reckless driving, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and unauthorized use of another person’s property to facilitate a crime. He was released at 2:33 p.m. Sunday, the day before the Faulkner County motion was filed.

As of Monday night he was not listed in either county’s jail, and no charges from the Lonoke County arrest had been filed in circuit court. Presley’s attorney, Megan Wilson, had not filed a response to the bond motion.

“You won’t shoot me”

Presley was 17 when Laca died and was charged as an adult. The narrative in the arrest affidavit, written by Faulkner County sheriff’s Investigator David Ross, refers to him only as “JV1.”

According to the affidavit, four young men had been drinking vodka and playing video games in a back bedroom when the homeowner, who was asleep, heard a gunshot and screaming. Laca was found on the floor with a pump shotgun beside him. The two other friends in the room, both 18, and Presley initially told deputies Laca had been playing with the gun and shot himself.

Ross wrote that he did not believe he was getting the full story and interviewed the witnesses again individually two days later.

The shotgun was Presley’s, bought for him by his father at a pawn shop, and he had brought it in from his truck earlier that night, the witnesses said. The one friend who was facing the pair told the investigator that Presley picked up the gun while Laca was playfully shoving his shoulder. Laca grabbed the end of the barrel, put it to his face and said, “You won’t shoot me,” according to the affidavit. The witness said he looked back at his phone, his ears started ringing, and he looked up to see Laca on the floor.

The witness told Ross that Presley said, “Oh my (expletive) God, I just shot Anthani,” immediately afterward, and that Presley asked him to tell deputies Laca had shot himself, including while deputies were still at the house. “Through God he couldn’t do what (Presley) asked him to do,” Ross wrote.

The other friend, the homeowner’s son, said he was playing a video game with his back to the two and did not see the shot, but that Presley later admitted to him that he had pulled the trigger and asked him to lie. Neither witness believed Presley meant to shoot Laca, the affidavit says.

Investigators also obtained Snapchat messages in which a friend of Presley’s sister relayed that Presley had told his sister he shot Laca, according to the affidavit.

Prosecutors approved the murder charge on Feb. 20, 2025, along with a firearm enhancement that could have added up to 15 years. Presley was arrested Feb. 28, 2025. His bond was initially set at $250,000 and lowered to $100,000 with electronic monitoring and an order not to leave Arkansas.

The case had been set for a three-day jury trial beginning Monday before Presley changed his plea.

The case is State v. Christopher Presley, 23CR-25-228, in Faulkner County Circuit Court.