Man, 29, pleads innocent in Fort Smith shooting death

FORT SMITH -- A Sebastian County man pleaded innocent to a first-degree murder charge Wednesday in the fatal shooting last month of a Fort Smith man.

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Denver Pennington, 29, of Hackett entered the plea in Sebastian County Circuit Court during a video arraignment from the county jail. He also entered an innocent plea to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The state also is seeking to have Pennington designated a habitual offender, for which the state could seek longer prison sentences if convicted.

Circuit Judge James Cox appointed the Office of Public Defender to represent Pennington and granted the prosecutor's request to set Pennington's bail at $500,000.

Pennington is accused of shooting Arthur McIntyre, 33, in the upper torso with a rifle about 2 a.m. Jan. 26 outside McIntyre's home at 3001 Alabama Ave. in Fort Smith.

According to police records, Pennington said he shot McIntyre because he was coming at him with a knife. Pennington's girlfriend, who witnessed the shooting, told police McIntyre was not armed when he was shot.

Pennington, his girlfriend and another man had gone to McIntyre's home early Jan. 26. The other man with Pennington had taken guns, Pennington told police.

McIntyre was drunk, Pennington said, and at one point shoved Pennington and grabbed a knife. Pennington tried to leave and grabbed one of the guns from the car to protect himself.

According to the reports, Pennington told police that he warned McIntyre not to come closer or he would shoot but that McIntyre continued to advance.

In the initial stage of the investigation, police detectives did not know who shot McIntyre. McIntyre's roommate witnessed the shooting but was too drunk to provide any information, according to the reports. Later in the day, he was able to pick Pennington out of a photo lineup.

Police received a phone call from Pennington's grandmother in Texas who reported that Pennington called her for money and told her he had shot someone. She told police she advised Pennington to surrender.

Fort Smith police obtained a warrant charging Pennington with being a felon in possession of a firearm. They circulated a description of the car in which Pennington was believed to be riding. Officers in Alma spotted the car and arrested him, according to reports.

State Desk on 02/04/2016

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