Hot Springs police find dead woman
HOT SPRINGS - A woman was found dead with a gunshot wound early Thursday at an apartment, Hot Springs police said.
Shortly before 2:30 a.m., officers responded to a report of a shooting at an apartment on Higdon Ferry Road and found a woman lying on the floor just inside the residence.
Emergency responders could not detect any signs of life, and Garland County Deputy Coroner Daniel Stramp proclaimed the woman dead.
The woman’s body was sent to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock for autopsy. The name of the victim was withheld until next of kin could be notified.
- THE SENTINEL-RECORDEx-trooper admits theft of medication
ASH FLAT - A former Arkansas State Police trooper has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of breaking or entering.
KAIT-TV, Channel 8, reported that Seth Higginbottom, 38, of Cave City was sentenced to 24 months of supervised probation after entering the plea Wednesday in Sharp County Circuit Court.
An affidavit filed in the case said Higginbottom admitted taking prescription medication from a drug take-back box at the Sharp County sheriff’s office to replace drug evidence he had lost after seizing it during a traffic stop in March 2013.
A state police spokesman said Higginbottom resigned shortly after being arrested on the charge.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSTrial delay sought
for county judge
CAMDEN - Attorneys for Ouachita County Judge Mike Hesterly are asking a federal judge to delay his forthcoming fraud trial, set for next month.
Hesterly’s attorneys filed a request this week to push back the trial, citing Hesterly’s health. Hesterly has pleaded innocent to charges accusing him of awarding a disaster-relief contract in exchange for a campaign contribution.
The relief money came from the Federal Emergency Management Agency after a tornado hit the area in 2009.
The Camden News reported that Hesterly’s attorneys are seeking a delay because he is experiencing pain and other problems related to a November back surgery.
Prosecutors are opposing the request for the delay, noting the trial has already been delayed three times.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSHit officer with car, woman, 32, admits
SPRINGFIELD, Mo.
- A southwest Missouri woman has pleaded guilty to using her car to assault a federal immigration officer who was trying to apprehend her boyfriend.
Federal prosecutors said 32-year-old Alisha Johnson of Springfield saw her boyfriend, Francisco Sosa-Lopez, running from federal agents July 25 and tried to pick him up with her vehicle.
As one of the agents approached Sosa-Lopez, Johnson veered onto the curb and into the officer, striking him in the left leg. Sosa-Lopez got into the car and fled, and shortly afterward Johnson surrendered to law enforcement officers.
The agent she hit sustained damage to his knee that required two surgeries. Sosa-Lopez got away and remains a fugitive.
Johnson, who pleaded guilty Thursday in Springfield, faces up to 20 years in federal prison without parole.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 03/15/2014