HOT SPRINGS -- The last of three charged in the 2012 shooting death of a Hot Springs man pleaded guilty Monday in Garland County Circuit Court to an amended charge and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years of probation.
Cameron Dion Wiley, 21, of Hot Springs, who was to stand trial this week on a charge of manslaughter, pleaded guilty to an amended charge of hindering apprehension.
He also was fined $1,000 and ordered to pay $470 in court costs.
Adrien Deshun Gardner, 22, of Hot Springs, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the case Aug. 12 and was sentenced to 18 years in prison, and Bobby Lee Nutt III, 22, of Hot Springs pleaded guilty Sept. 15 to hindering apprehension and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Nutt was arrested Nov. 8, Gardner was arrested Nov. 21 and Wiley was arrested Dec. 20, all in the death of Joshua Williams, 20, of Hot Springs, whose body was found Nov. 4, 2012, in some bushes in the area of Huckleberry and Torrence streets, just west of Convention Boulevard.
Deputy prosecutor Trent Daniels said after Gardner's hearing that the shooting appeared to have been accidental because Gardner was "waving a gun around" at a party, and "there was never an allegation it was intentional, but strictly reckless."
During Gardner's change-of-plea hearing, when asked what he had done, Gardner said, "I killed my best friend."
According to the affidavits, it was noted that there were abrasions and bruising on the victim's forehead and face, and blood around his nose. It was later determined that he was shot in the back near his left shoulder.
Williams was last seen on the night of Nov. 3, 2012. The three suspects said he was with them at Gardner's residence on Chelle Street.
They stated that Williams left suddenly with an unknown man about 10:30 p.m. They said they waited almost an hour for him to return, but he never did, so they left and went to a party at 11:30 p.m.
After interviews and a check of Williams' phone records, Hot Springs police detectives determined that his phone "pinged" off the tower only blocks from the Chelle Street house until midnight and then pinged off the tower at 835 Central, which is the nearest tower to where his body was found.
His phone could not be tracked after 12:15 a.m., and the phone was never found. The affidavit states the phone pings occurred at the residence precisely when the three accused said Williams was not there.
On Feb. 19, a confidential informant notified detectives that Gardner shot Williams at the residence and that Nutt and Wiley assisted in cleaning up the crime scene and moving the body to where it was found.
A search warrant for the Chelle Street residence was executed Feb. 20, 2013, and evidence of blood and cleaning agents were found on the carpet.
The blood was later determined to be Williams' and was "in such great quantity" that it was not from a minor injury and likely resulted in death, the warrant stated.
Metro on 10/17/2014