Sheriff: Arkansas teen confessed to killing

Cash, knife found at suspect’s home

A 17-year-old Jonesboro boy will be charged with first-degree murder after police say he fatally stabbed a Lake City man for $119.

ADVERTISEMENT

More headlines

Jacob Thomas Craig is being held in the Craighead County jail's juvenile section in Jonesboro in lieu of $1 million bond in the Friday slaying of Jimmie Hall.

Sheriff Marty Boyd said Craig will turn 18 later this month and will be transferred to the adult section of the jail. Second Judicial Circuit Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington said Craig will be tried as an adult.

A probable-cause arrest affidavit filed in Craighead County District Court in Jonesboro by Craighead County sheriff's detective Sgt. Rusty Grigsby said Craig admitted to stabbing Hall.

Grigsby said in the affidavit that Hall's son found his father on the kitchen floor of Hall's home at 3:30 p.m. Friday. Hall was covered in blood, Grigsby said.

Hall's son reported that doors had been moved in the hallway, along with doors in front of Hall's washer and dryer. The son said his father never used the washer and dryer units and there was no reason for the doors to be moved.

Boyd said Craig was considered a suspect after a witness saw a vehicle parked at Hall's home Friday afternoon.

"I can't say any more about it," Boyd said. "It's still under investigation."

According to a police affidavit, during an interview with detectives Sunday, Craig admitted to stabbing Hall repeatedly in the neck with two knives he found in Hall's home.

Police found $119 in cash in Craig's home, along with the clothing police say he wore while killing Hall. Authorities also found a knife under a storage building at Craig's family's residence that Craig said he used in the slaying, Grigsby said.

Boyd said it didn't appear Craig previously knew Hall.

He said Craig had no prior criminal offenses.

Hall's death was the first in the county in 2016, Boyd said.

Lavinda Counce of Bay was killed in July 2015 and left in a cornfield near the Craighead County town. Authorities charged Richard Tarver of Bay with capital murder in the 90-year-old woman's death.

He is scheduled to be tried in Craighead County Circuit Court on May 23.

State Desk on 05/04/2016

Upcoming Events