Arkansas

PINEY, AR – A Hot Springs man was fatally shot by a Garland County Sheriff’s Deputy following a confrontation involving a shovel, according to the Arkansas State Police. The incident occurred around 8 p.m. on October 7 in the 100 block of Ebony Way in western Garland County. Deputies had responded to a report of a man allegedly swinging a shovel at a passing vehicle. Upon arrival, the deputy encountered 34-year-old Anthony Michael Dean, who reportedly threatened the deputy with the shovel. The deputy discharged his weapon, fatally striking Dean. Dean’s body will be examined at the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory to determine the official cause and manner of death. The Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division is conducting the investigation and will submit findi...

SUCCESS, ARK. – The Arkansas State Police is investigating a single-vehicle crash that claimed three lives late October 8, 2025, in Clay County. According to the Arkansas State Police, the crash occurred around 10:30 p.m. on State Highway 211, north of the town of Success. Troopers arrived to find a 2001 Nissan Xterra that had veered off the roadway, entered a ditch, struck a tree, and caught fire. The driver, identified as 19-year-old Izabella Brasfield of Marmaduke, and two passengers, 19-year-old Tara Calhoun and 45-year-old Michelle Braman, both of Corning, were pronounced deceased at the scene. The investigation into the crash remains ongoing.

GARLAND COUNTY, AR – The Garland County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help in locating 15-year-old Jennavieve Brewer, who was last seen in the Springwood Road area. Jennavieve is described as having brown hair and brown eyes, standing 5 feet 3 inches tall, and weighing approximately 122 pounds with a slim build. She was last seen wearing Deadpool pajama pants and a coral-colored T-shirt. According to police, Jennavieve may have left her home in a gray 2025 Toyota RAV4 with Arkansas license plate BAN58X. She may be in the area of 3rd Street in Hot Springs, possibly staying with a friend, though no specific address is known. Her mother, Rebecca Ramirez, reported that Jennavieve left a note indicating possible self-harm. Anyone who has seen Jennavieve or the vehi...

PARKIN, AR – Three people were killed after a Cessna 210B aircraft crashed in a marshy area south of Highway 306 near Parkin on October 6, 2025. According to the Arkansas State Police, the agency, in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, began a search around 3:15 p.m. after Memphis Air Traffic Control lost radar contact and communications with the aircraft traveling from New Orleans to Jonesboro. The wreckage was located around 6 p.m. west of Midway, near the intersection of State Highways 75 and 306, with assistance from Arkansas Game and Fish personnel and local fire departments. All three individuals aboard were pronounced deceased at the scene. They were identified as pilot Bob Clark Bolton Jr., 59, of Heber Sp...

WEST HELENA, AR – A Phillips County jury has sentenced Donterious Stephens, 21, of Helena-West Helena, to life in prison for the 2024 prom night shooting death of 18-year-old Lorenzo Harrison III. On Friday, October 3, 2025, Stephens was convicted of First-Degree Murder and received an additional 15-year sentence for a firearm enhancement. The Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division and the Phillips County Sheriff's Office led the investigation, which identified Stephens as the suspect in the April 20, 2024, shooting. The incident occurred across the street from the Ater Warehouse in West Helena, where a post-prom party was taking place following Central High School’s prom. Harrison, a CHS senior, was pronounced deceased at the scene.

MISSISSIPPI COUNTY, AR – The Arkansas State Police is investigating a six-vehicle collision that resulted in two fatalities and two injuries on State Highway 181, north of State Highway 140, between Manila and Osceola. The crash occurred around 3:30 p.m. on October 3, 2025, when smoke from a field burning east of the highway created zero-visibility conditions. Traffic on Highway 181 had slowed because of the smoke when a 2018 GMC Terrain, driven by 21-year-old Mackenzie Marie Risner of Manila, struck the rear of a 2012 Kenworth semi-truck. The collision caused the GMC to roll into a roadside ditch. A second vehicle driven by 32-year-old Jan Sebastian Rabie of Brookland then collided with the same semi-truck, triggering a chain reaction involving several vehicles. Rabie was pronou...

FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. – The use of lethal force by two Fayetteville Police Department officers has been ruled justified in the September 2025 shooting death of 42-year-old Brandon Poulter. According to Fourth District Prosecuting Attorney Brandon Carter, the officers' actions were consistent with Arkansas law. On September 7, 2025, Fayetteville Police officers responded to reports of gunfire at an apartment complex in the 300 block of North Garnet Court. As officers attempted to make contact with individuals inside the apartment, additional gunshots were fired from within, targeting both the officers and an armored vehicle. The suspect, identified as Brandon Poulter, continued to engage officers with gunfire. Officers returned fire, striking Poulter. He was later found deceased i...

PRESCOTT, ARK. – A Texarkana man is facing 24 felony charges following an ongoing investigation into sex crimes involving multiple juvenile victims across four Arkansas counties. File Photo (October 2024) According to the Arkansas State Police, Alejandro Mendoza, 35, was charged on October 1, 2025, in both Nevada and Hempstead Counties. The charges include rape, indecency with a child by exposure, sexual grooming of a child, internet stalking of a child, and multiple counts of engaging children in sexually explicit conduct. The investigation began in July 2024 when the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance from the Arkansas State Police Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force. Mendoza was first arrested on September 11, 2024, and a $250,000 bond was set at...

ST. JOE, ARK. – A St. Joe man has been sentenced to life without parole plus 10 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to Capital Murder and Abuse of a Corpse in the death of his wife. According to court records, Jeffery Stansbery, 76, pleaded guilty on Friday, October 3, 2025, in Searcy County Circuit Court to the charges stemming from the death of Amanda Stansbery, 43, also of St. Joe. On September 5, 2024, the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division assisted the Searcy County Sheriff’s Office after deputies discovered Amanda Stansbery deceased at her Chipley Road home. Deputies had been dispatched for a welfare check after Jeffery Stansbery reportedly told staff at Cox Medical Center in Branson, Missouri, that he had harmed his wife...

FORDYCE, AR – The Arkansas State Crime Laboratory has concluded that the deaths of two Fordyce residents last month were the result of a murder-suicide. File Photo (August 2025) On September 15, 2025, the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division initiated a death investigation at the request of the Dallas County Sheriff's Office after a deceased couple was discovered inside a home in the 1700 block of West 4th Street. Deputies with the Dallas County Sheriff's Office and officers from the Fordyce Police Department responded to the residence around 11 a.m. after receiving a report of two unresponsive individuals. Upon arrival, authorities located the bodies of 81-year-old David Parham and 70-year-old Holly Parham. The Dallas County Coroner pronounced both individuals de...