FAYETTEVILLE -- A Springdale man accused of killing a young woman in 2006 was set free Wednesday morning after his capital murder charge was dropped.
Rico Tavarous Cohn, 29, walked out of the Washington County Detention Center at 9:38 a.m. Wednesday, Kelly Cantrell, Sheriff's Office spokeswoman, wrote in a message. Cohn spent three years in jail after being charged in 2012 in the death of Bethany "Nina" June Ingram, a 21-year-old Northwest Arkansas Community College student.
Coming Foundation
Judy Ingram, mother of Nina Ingram who was strangled in 2006, plans to open a nonprofit organization to help others who have suffered through the loss of a loved one, Judy Ingram said. For more information, visit the Nina Ingram Foundation at http://ninaingram.c….
Source: Staff report
Ingram's brother found her April 22, 2006, strangled on her bed in her apartment on Sycamore Street, according to police records.
"When is Nina going to get justice?" Ingram's mother, Judy, said Wednesday. "I have no doubt in my heart that Rico is the man who took Nina's life."
Cohn's attorney Tony Pirani didn't return calls and email Wednesday.
Online messages left for Cohn and his family weren't returned Wednesday.
Prosecutors lacked evidence after a key witness died earlier this year and were forced to drop the charge, Prosecutor Matt Durrett said Wednesday. The case had "insufficient evidence," according to a court order.
The witness who died was "vital" to proceeding with the case, Durrett said. The woman told police Cohn told her about the murder, he said.
"The witness that passed away told police that (Cohn) admitted to her that he did it," Durrett said. "(Cohn) gave her details that matched the crime scene and had been previously unreleased."
Other witnesses corroborated the "star witness," Durrett said. Durrett wouldn't release the name of that witness Wednesday.
The witness died unexpectedly after a surgery, Durrett said. No foul play is suspected, he said.
Cohn's trial was set for this August, after many postponements for defense attorneys to have evidence tested, Durrett said. The trial was postponed eight times to stall justice, Judy Ingram said.
Ingram held a news conference Wednesday afternoon at Living Faith Church -- the Fayetteville church where Nina Ingram's funeral service was held. Ingram said she has waited nine years but is still fighting for Nina.
Durrett said the postponements delayed the trial, and the witness died, which is a worse case scenario for the prosecution. Once the main witness died, which was about two months ago, prosecutors were left with "nothing," Ingram said.
Prosecutors had no fingerprints and "barely any" DNA evidence in the case, Ingram said. There was no choice but to let Cohn go, she said.
Police opened the cold case in 2012 after receiving a tip that led to a witness who was a "close friend" of Cohn's, according to records. Three witnesses, all unnamed, are listed in the 2012 affidavit with two witnesses telling police Cohn told them he killed a woman in Fayetteville.
One witness told police Cohn "admitted he killed Nina with his own two hands," according to the report.
Police believed Ingram's death was a planned burglary and assault that resulted in her murder, the record shows.
Police said they believed Ingram was killed because she rebuffed Cohn and others who made inappropriate comments to her as she left her apartment five days before her death, according to records. One witness told police Cohn was upset because Ingram thought she was too good for him. Cohn felt Ingram had been "disrespectful," according to records.
Cohn has repeatedly denied killing Ingram.
Doctors at the Arkansas State Hospital found no indication Cohn suffered from mental impairment or mental disease, and they determined he was fit to stand trial.
"The state is accusing me of breaking and entering and strangling someone to death, which is totally untrue," Cohn is quoted as telling doctors. "I do feel for what their family is going through, but their pain was not caused by me."
The case against Cohn is closed, Durrett said. Police will continue to investigate, said Craig Stout, Fayetteville police spokesman.
Police and Judy Ingram said they hope new evidence will turn up and charges will be refiled. Ingram said she hoped someone else would step forward because justice hasn't been served. Cohn is dangerous, Ingram said.
Someone must know something, Ingram said. Having the case go unresolved is painful, she said.
"I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for closure," Ingram said. "This is not the closure I wanted."
Scarlet Sims can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAScarlets.
NW News on 07/02/2015