Arkansas man charged with murder after bodies found in junkyard

Tyler Barefield, 35, of Russellville
Tyler Barefield, 35, of Russellville

A Russellville man was arrested Thursday and charged in the slayings of two Yell County men whose bodies were found two days earlier in a junkyard, the Pope County sheriff's office said.

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Tyler Barefield, 35, has been charged with two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Aaron Brock, 22, and Beau DeWitt, 22, both of Dardanelle, authorities said.

Barefield is being held in the Pope County jail. A bail hearing is set for today at the jail.

Pope County sheriff's deputies were sent around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday to U-Pull-It Auto Parts at 3001 S. Mobile Ave. in southeast Russellville where they found a vehicle containing the bodies of Brock and DeWitt.

The owner of U-Pull-It Auto Parts is listed as Randy Barefield on the Arkansas secretary of state's website.

Pope County Sheriff's Administrative Assistant Ramona Woods would not comment about whether Tyler Barefield and Randy Barefield are related.

Beau DeWitt's mother, Kim Cooksey-DeWitt, 57, said Brock and DeWitt were both car lovers. They were inseparable, always working on cars together since they met in 2011 when the DeWitts moved to a house near Brock in Dardanelle.

"That's all they ever did, was work on their cars," she said. "They didn't have very many friends, it was just them two together. But they were dropped off at midnight outside of that junkyard. And then nobody ever heard from them again."

She said that on Sept. 16, the two men went to the junkyard during business hours and told an employee there that they planned to buy a passenger window and four shock absorbers for a vehicle DeWitt had purchased. He wanted to put the car in good order before his girlfriend gave birth to their son, Cooksey-DeWitt said. The baby is to be delivered Monday, she said.

They ran out of time to remove the parts during business hours, so the two men returned at midnight with their girlfriends to get the parts, Cooksey-DeWitt said. She said they intended to pay for the parts the next day.

"I guess they decided they'd go by there and take them off," she said.

Both men have served jail time for theft of property charges.

Brock was convicted of breaking and entering, theft of property and theft by receiving in February 2012, and was convicted again in May 2013 of breaking and entering, and theft of property.

DeWitt was convicted in December 2011 of theft of property of less than $2,500 (a firearm); in September 2013 of disorderly conduct, breaking or entering, and theft of property; and on June 8 of stealing a car.

The men were supposed to call their girlfriends after they removed the parts Friday night, but they never did, Cooksey-DeWitt said.

The girlfriends drove back and forth outside the junkyard flashing their vehicle's headlights, but nobody came out, she said. Brock's cellphone went dead around 11 a.m. Saturday.

Dardanelle Police Chief Montie Sims said Brock's mother contacted his department Saturday after her son disappeared Friday night from their home in Dardanelle.

DeWitt's father, 57-year-old Douglas DeWitt, went around the perimeter of the junkyard Saturday night with a friend and yelled the missing men's names but heard no answer, Cooksey-DeWitt said.

On Monday morning, the two men's girlfriends and Brock's mother went to the junkyard after it opened and found DeWitt's cellphone and headlamp lying on the ground, she said. The DeWitts then filed a missing persons report with the Russellville police.

The bodies of the two men were found Tuesday afternoon in a vehicle at the junkyard. Authorities have not commented on the condition of the vehicle.

Cooksey-DeWitt said her son had been excited at the prospect of becoming a father. He and his girlfriend planned to name the baby Wesley Beau DeWitt.

DeWitt took a set of newborn pajamas to a fair two weeks before his death, his mother said, and had an airbrush artist add his son's name to the outfit. Then he showed it off in front of the business where she worked, she said.

"I'm just happy they finally caught somebody, and we can get some answers," she said. "It's not like they were robbing diamonds out of a diamond mine. A little extreme, for trespassing."

Metro on 09/23/2016

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