Week of Oct. 10-16, 2026 | Arkansas Breaking News
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The week opened with a Saturday night killing on West 24th Street and closed with a gunfight between at least four people inside a Colonel Glenn Road convenience store that left a retired Army officer and a 19-year-old dead.
In between, Independence County prosecutors charged a man with beating two women to death in 2025, Little Rock pulled three more officers off the street over license plate camera searches, the state’s police licensing panel stripped eight former officers of their badges, and Fayetteville police announced 11 arrests from an online child predator sting.
Here is what happened across the state between Oct. 10 and Oct. 16.
Twins, a broken phone and a gunfight at a Circle K
James Parker, a 74-year-old retired Army officer from Mansfield, Texas, had spent Thursday afternoon at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff interviewing students for ROTC scholarships. He stopped to use the restroom at the Circle K at 6201 Colonel Glenn Road shortly before 5:15 p.m. while his wife picked up a prescription across the street, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
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Surveillance video shows Ladontae Wilburn, 19, walking into the store holding a handgun with a drum magazine, according to a probable cause letter by Little Rock police Detective Chase Street quoted by the newspaper. Braxton Flowers, 25, pointed a gun at him, and the two opened fire on each other. Tedarien Mitchell, 22, began shooting as well. The video captured Parker clutching his chest and falling to the floor. Ladontae Wilburn’s twin brother, Kavontae Wilburn, standing in the doorway, started firing at Flowers, Mitchell and a woman, Tamayra Woods, 22, the letter says.
A witness told detectives the argument started over a phone that someone associated with Mitchell had run over.
Parker died inside the store. Ladontae Wilburn was driven to UAMS Medical Center by his brother and the witness and died there, according to a Little Rock Police Department release. Woods, Flowers, Mitchell and Kemo Jones, 25, were taken to hospitals in critical condition.
Kavontae Wilburn, 19, pleaded not guilty Friday in Little Rock District Court to two counts of capital murder and a count of violating the Arkansas Uniform Machine Gun Act. Police searched the car the brothers took to the hospital and found both their guns; Kavontae Wilburn’s had been modified to fire fully automatically, the letter says. Police said charges are pending against Flowers and that prosecutors will review Mitchell’s case. A police spokesman said detectives used the department’s Real Time Crime Center to identify a suspect vehicle; KATV reported that Flock cameras tracked two cars leaving the scene.
Mayor Frank Scott Jr. called the shooting “completely senseless” and said the department’s “whole force” worked the case overnight. Vice Mayor B.J. Wyrick, who is challenging Scott on Nov. 3, said the store has been the scene of repeated disturbances and suggested the city could declare it a nuisance property. A February 2024 shootout in the same parking lot killed 43-year-old Roy Jenkins.
It was the second capital murder case in Little Rock this week to involve a machine gun charge. On Wednesday, Pulaski County prosecutors formally charged Omarion Vashon Hatchett, 21, with capital murder in the Aug. 25 shooting death of 23-year-old Jazeven Gregory on J.E. Davis Drive. Arkansas Breaking News reported that Hatchett had been free on a $5,000 bond in a pending Uniform Machine Gun Act case, reduced from $50,000 at his arraignment, and was on first-offender probation from a 2023 drug arrest when Gregory was killed.
Batesville man charged in 2025 double killing
Eighteen months after deputies found two women beaten to death in a mobile home on Old Camp Road outside Batesville, Independence County prosecutors charged the man who was living in a camper beside it.
Timothy John Neal, 39, was charged Wednesday with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Teresa Owens, 53, and Patricia Anderson, 71, and a judge set his bond at $1 million. The affidavit, reported by Arkansas Breaking News, says both women died of blunt-force trauma to the head, that investigators searched for “a hammer or similar weapon,” and that a water-usage report for the address showed a seven-hour spike five days after the women stopped texting and spending money. Neal had been released from the county jail into Owens’ custody in 2024 while waiting for a bed at the Arkansas State Hospital, and he skipped a mental health appointment on the day investigators believe the women were killed. He has been jailed on a contempt charge since April 2025 and is due in court Oct. 27.
Flock fallout widens as state panel clears its docket
Three more Little Rock officers were relieved of duty Tuesday over searches in the department’s Flock Safety license plate reader system, Scott announced, less than a week after records showed former Officer Kyle Dishman had been fired in July for running his girlfriend’s plate 28 times. The three, flagged in a third-quarter audit completed Oct. 5, have not been named. The department said it is moving to monthly audits, and city directors began talking openly about ending the city’s $690,000 Flock contract. An ordinance is expected in early November; the Board of Directors meets again Tuesday.
The same morning, the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training opened a two-day session with 25 decertification requests on its agenda, the most of the year. The commission’s summary of the votes, posted Thursday, shows it:
Decertified eight former officers after contested hearings, all by unanimous votes: Terryice Hewing and Hollie Whitlock of the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office; Christopher Schmeckenbecher, the former Springdale school resource officer; Emil Iverson of Mountain Home; Michael D’Agostino, Rodrigo Roque and Daniel Nacalaban, three of the Fort Smith night-shift officers fired in January 2025 after a hazing investigation; and Tyrus Harris of Little Rock. It declined to decertify Christopher Miller on the Cross County Sheriff’s Office’s request.
Sent 22 new cases to hearings, including Dishman, Pulaski County jail deputy LeRon Foreman, who is charged with sexually assaulting a woman in his custody, and Batesville officers Miguel Romero and Oscar Salas.
Refused to proceed against Robbie McCain, the former Lonoke County detective whose handling of a dash camera memory card got the murder case against Aaron Spencer dismissed in June, and against Neil Brasse of White Hall.
Accepted consent orders decertifying Jason Bullock of the Garland County Sheriff’s Office, Jimmy Bruce of Marmaduke, Lizeth Cervantes of Bentonville, Joshua Waldrum of Prescott and Justin Smith of Blytheville; deferred the Hackett case against Levi Thomas until his battery appeal is resolved; denied recertification to Luke Roe and DeQuante Body; let Pine Bluff and West Memphis withdraw cases against Octavian Sims and Anquion Williams but refused to let Dardanelle withdraw its case against Josh Kelley; reactivated the Wabbaseka Police Department; and approved a police department for the Western Yell County School District.
Eleven arrested in Northwest Arkansas predator sting
Fayetteville police announced Friday that an undercover operation with Homeland Security Investigations, the Arkansas State Police Human Trafficking Task Force and the Arkansas Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force produced 11 arrests over the past couple of weeks, KNWA reported.
Those arrested were Selvin Choc, 26, and Jose de Jesus Reyes Afanador, 36, both of Springdale; Yovany Moran, 30, of Noel, Mo.; Dalton Pack, 25, Trey Hughes, 32, and Joseph Burke, 30, all of Siloam Springs; Alvaro Mandujano, 41, and Efrain Ramos, 43, both of Rogers; Brett Kern, 48, of Cave Springs; Ashton Jones, 32, of Fayetteville; and Gregory Grigsby, 40, of Stilwell, Okla. All 11 were arrested on suspicion of internet stalking of a child, and all but Grigsby also face a charge of traveling for the purpose of an unlawful sex act with a minor, the department said. Springdale, Harrison and Tontitown police and the Washington and Benton county sheriff’s offices also took part.
Crimes against children
Shannon Hills. Saline County prosecutors charged a 19-year-old mother Tuesday and the baby’s 20-year-old father Thursday after doctors found their 2-month-old daughter had broken ribs on both sides, fractures in all four limbs and a compression fracture of the spine, injuries a physician called “not accidental and consistent with abuse.” Brooklin Meredith and Jordan Knight each face first-degree domestic battery of a victim 4 or younger, a Class Y felony, permitting abuse of a child and introducing a controlled substance into the body of another person, the last count for a toddler who tested positive for marijuana. Neighbors told a Shannon Hills detective the toddler was tied to a carport post with a backpack leash and ate from the dog and cat bowls. Knight was released Oct. 12 on a $15,000 bond before the broader charges were filed.
Clinton. Nathan McGhee, 21, was charged Tuesday in Van Buren County with aggravated assault, second-degree battery and endangering the welfare of a minor after telling a deputy he held his hand over a 3-year-old girl’s mouth and nose “until she stopped breathing” because he wanted her to stop crying. The girl was flown to Arkansas Children’s Hospital and was listed in stable condition. McGhee was booked Sept. 21 on a $1 million bond.
Sage. Arkansas State Police filed 40 new counts of possessing child sexual abuse material against Brandon Vincent Lara, 43, in Izard County on Monday, along with 11 counts of engaging children in sexually explicit conduct and one count of transporting minors for prohibited sexual conduct in Marion County, the agency said Friday. Lara has been jailed since June 11 on four counts of second-degree sexual assault, sexual indecency with a child and grooming. His wife, Tara Lara, 43, was charged in Marion County with one count of transporting a minor for prohibited sexual conduct and is held on a $25,000 bond. The case began with a Google CyberTip, and investigators said some photographs of minors had been digitally altered into explicit images. More charges are expected.
Benton County. Two men were charged in separate cases. Taylor Jared Kramer, 42, of Bella Vista faces second-degree sexual assault, grooming and related counts after a girl in his household told a camp counselor he made her touch him in exchange for paying for her trips. Richard Nathan Pierce, 45, of Rogers, whose house was the neighborhood play spot, is charged with second-degree sexual assault after a girl who played with his four sons said he kissed and groped her. Pierce’s bond is $100,000.
Greenwood. JJ Daniel Rodgers, 18, was charged Monday with raping a child under 14, a Class Y felony carrying 25 to 40 years or life. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday, the Democrat-Gazette reported.
Magnolia. Donteshia Quantel Torrence, 26, a school employee, was charged Wednesday with first-degree sexual assault of a 17-year-old student. The charging document states that a child was conceived. Prosecutors elevated the charge from second degree, citing the provision that covers school employees.
Cherokee Village. Vincent Ryan Prokop, 36, a registered sex offender, was charged Wednesday in Sharp County with trafficking methamphetamine, five counts of failing to comply with registration requirements and possessing a child sex doll after a compliance check of his bedroom turned up 260 grams of liquid that tested positive for meth, four unregistered phones and a PlayStation 5.
Paragould. Jeremy Harlan is held on a $500,000 bond after a judge found probable cause to charge him with possessing child sexual abuse material and electronic facilitation of child sexual abuse, KAIT reported. A CyberTip traced a Kik account that shared a video in January 2025 to Harlan through his email, username and IP address.
Greene County. A Greene County Tech football player was issued a juvenile citation for three counts of harassment after teammates told investigators he and other players held them down on the locker room floor and exposed himself to them, KAIT reported. The school district said it would resume its own investigation.
Homicide investigations
Little Rock. Derek Johnson, 44, died on the back porch of 4205 W. 24th St. after officers responding to a ShotSpotter alert at 11:41 p.m. Saturday found him with gunshot wounds, police said. Three other people were wounded, and a neighbor’s house and car were hit. No suspect has been named.
North Little Rock. A man was shot in the leg and a woman in the chest in the 1100 block of Parkway, near Pike Avenue and 44th Street, about 12:32 a.m. Sunday, according to radio traffic. Officers performed CPR on the woman before medics arrived. Police put out a lookout for a black Chevrolet Trailblazer and said an intersection camera captured the incident.
Ouachita County. Deputies arrested Philip McDaniel on Friday on a first-degree murder charge in the death of Bernice Nelson, 73, who was found stabbed in her Bearden home in December 2017, KATV reported. Arkansas State Police had carried the case on its cold case list. McDaniel is held at the Ouachita County Detention Center.
Green Forest. Ashley Hunt, 32, is jailed on a second-degree murder charge in the death of her boyfriend, Kevin Rogers, 61, whose body was found Oct. 3 on the front porch of a home in the 3000 block of Arkansas 103, State Police said Oct. 9. Hunt told investigators she hit Rogers in the head with an object during a fight. The cause of death is pending at the state crime lab.
On the interstates
Johnson County. Harry Strode, 63, an Alabama cattle hauler, was charged Monday with two counts of manslaughter and 23 other counts in the Oct. 25, 2025, chain-reaction crash on Interstate 40 near Clarksville that killed Andrea Levine, 59, and her father, Larry Levine, 79, of Lamar, and cost another driver her leg. A State Police affidavit says Strode was doing 80 mph into stopped traffic and did not touch the brakes until the second he hit the Levines’ pickup. A post-crash inspection found more than 20 percent of the rig’s brakes defective. A bench warrant was issued.
Prairie County. Derrick Jerome Talbert and Joseph Bennett Bethune, both 30 and from St. Petersburg, Fla., were charged Wednesday with trafficking methamphetamine after a Hazen officer’s August traffic stop turned into a 100 mph chase during which about 42 pounds of meth was thrown out onto I-40. Both posted $100,000 bonds.
Hempstead County. Victor Joel Colon, 29, of Punta Gorda, Fla., was jailed Monday on three counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer after a tractor-trailer that refused to stop for Arkansas Highway Police near Benton rammed a Highway Police unit and a State Police unit during a chase down I-30 and through the streets of Hope. A trooper shot out the truck’s steer tire before it was forced to a stop, sister publication TXKtoday reported.
Southwest Arkansas
Arkadelphia. Clark County prosecutors on Friday charged Tre’Veon Keshon Jeffers, 20, of Prescott; Omareon Deshawn Nunally, 21, of Nashville; and Hershall James Williams Jr., 18, of Arkadelphia after stolen handguns, one fitted with an illegal conversion device, passed through a Henderson State University dorm in September. None is a student. Jeffers was on probation in two counties for robbery and burglary cases when police say he took a Glock from a man at a South First Street home.
Hope. Freddie Louis Adams III, 18, was charged Wednesday with terroristic act and two counts of theft by receiving a firearm after a Sept. 18 predawn gunfight on the east side sent bullets through a house where a man was asleep, one of them passing a foot or two above his bed. Officers found Adams hiding in an abandoned trailer with a 14-year-old and three Glocks, two reported stolen in Texarkana and Magnolia, TXKtoday reported.
Genoa. A man who withdrew cash at a Texarkana, Texas, bank Saturday morning was followed to a Dollar General in Miller County, where someone broke out his truck window and took about $20,000 in cash and silver coins along with his vehicle titles and house deed. Texarkana police told deputies the city has seen “a rash” of a black sedan trailing people from ATMs, TXKtoday reported.
Union County. Sequan Devonte Elliott, 32, of Mount Holly was charged Monday as a habitual offender with terroristic act and aggravated assault on a household member for shooting at a woman’s car in April while a child was endangered. He is held on a $250,000 bond. Earl Sanchese Heard, 25, of El Dorado was charged the same day with pointing a gun at two men and firing from a vehicle in August.
In federal court
The Springdale couple who founded the charity 2nd Milk received the maximum sentences Wednesday in Fayetteville. Jason Boyd Carney, 48, who pleaded guilty on the sixth day of his jury trial to wire fraud conspiracy, filing false tax returns and structuring, was sentenced to 16 years. Lacey Christina Carney, 47, got three years for misprision of a felony. The court found more than $2 million meant for orphans in Malawi went instead to cosmetic surgery, cruises, a boat, a mortgage and trips to Rome, Japan and Vietnam, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks called the conduct “profoundly disgusting.” The couple’s home was forfeited.
Jason Voyles, 50, of Benton County was sentenced to 17 and a half years for possessing more than 50 grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. DEA agents found about 150 grams when they arrested him in January 2025, and Lowell police found a loaded gun in his waistband at a traffic stop that June, prosecutors said Tuesday.
In Little Rock, Aaron Hatfield, 46, of England was sentenced Thursday to 14 years as a career offender for possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute and being a felon in possession of firearms. A February 2025 search found 19 grams of meth, a Walther pistol, an SKS and an AR-style rifle. Co-defendant Terry Wright, 36, also of England, was sentenced in August to five years for selling guns to felons, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
On the civil side, the lawsuits accusing Elon Musk’s xAI of generating child sexual abuse images of Arkansas children through its Grok chatbot have grown to nine in Fayetteville, all before Brooks. A ninth suit filed Oct. 13 on behalf of a 9-year-old girl says Grok produced “hundreds, if not thousands” of explicit images of her. Plaintiffs’ lawyers have asked a federal panel to make Brooks the national judge for every Grok case, and xAI has told him it supports that and asked him to pause the Arkansas suits until the panel decides, Arkansas Breaking News reported Saturday.
Also this week
A Conway detective’s search warrant return, filed Thursday, shows the Uber account used to send two unwitting drivers to collect $36,500 from a Conway fraud victim in July was tied to a phone number and anonymous Apple address also used in an identical scam in West Des Moines, Iowa. No one has been charged.
A Craighead County judge found probable cause Wednesday to charge Hayden Freeman of Brookland with felony criminal mischief after Jonesboro police said he fired 13 or 14 rounds from inside his car into a pickup parked beside him at the East Highland Drive Walmart. Officers found him sitting in the car. His mother told detectives he had been released from a behavioral health facility earlier that week, KAIT reported. Bond was set at $50,000.
Christopher McCrary of Jonesboro is held on a $200,000 bond on a second-degree domestic battering charge after police said he stabbed a relative in the arm Sunday during an argument that began with his mother. He had no-contact orders protecting two family members, according to KAIT.
And the state’s Independent Citizens Commission voted Monday to raise pay 2 percent for every circuit and district judge and elected prosecutor in Arkansas, along with the governor, constitutional officers and legislators, Arkansas Breaking News reported. A full-time prosecuting attorney will make $204,099; a circuit judge, $214,841.
All charges are accusations, and every defendant named here is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
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