Hundreds line route of Arkansas deputy's hearse

DARDANELLE -- As hundreds of first responders from around the state escorted a fallen officer home Friday, the Arkansas State Police released the identities of two female victims in Thursday's triple homicide just outside Chickalah.

Rita Miller, 61, and Ciera Miller, 17, were shot and killed Thursday morning by James Arthur Bowden, 42, of Dardanelle after he killed Yell County sheriff's deputy Lt. Kevin Mainhart at 7:18 a.m. during a traffic stop off Arkansas 27 on Slo Fork Road, police reported.

Mainhart had recognized Bowden's vehicle from an earlier advisory associated with a disturbance call at a home at 12084 Gum Springs Road, southwest of Dardanelle, reports said.

Officers found the bodies of Rita Miller and Ciera Miller in the front yard of the home. The bodies lay there for five hours Thursday as dozens of law enforcement officers from the Arkansas State Police and local agencies negotiated with Bowden, who had holed up in the home with hostage Haley McHam, 31, of Yell County, according to reports.

Bowden released McHam about 30 minutes before he surrendered to authorities without incident at 2:40 p.m., officers said. He was being held Friday in the Conway County jail and is expected to appear in circuit court on capital-murder charges May 25 at the courthouse in Dardanelle.

Investigators have not released a motive for the killings and said Friday that no further information will be released in the case.

Dozens of officers congregated about 9 a.m. Friday at the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock, waiting for the release of Mainhart's body so they could escort it back to Dardanelle. With blue lights activated, patrol vehicles led the white hearse carrying Mainhart's body along an extended route from Little Rock to Dardanelle.

Mainhart's funeral is set for 2 p.m. Monday in the Russellville Assembly of God Church. Visitation is 1-6 p.m. Sunday in the chapel of Cornwell Funeral Home in Dardanelle.

On Friday, firetrucks with American flags stood sentry on overpasses along the more than 60-mile route to Dardanelle. At Interstate 40 and U.S. 64 for miles into the city of Dardanelle, people and first responders lined the roadways. Men with a Pfeifer Construction crew stood with their left arms behind their backs and their right hands over their hearts as Mainhart's body passed by.

With tears streaming down their faces, several women with children stood solemnly and silently along the roadside.

Just over the bridge at the Dardanelle city limits, the Russellville Fire Department flew a giant American flag from an extended ladder.

"We are paying our respects to a good man," Russellville Fire Capt. Sonny Wagner said. "It's a difficult time for all of us."

After the hearse passed, Teresa Waldron of Dardanelle watched as firefighters folded the flag. She said the community is in shock.

"It was a tremendous loss," she said, tears brimming. "I don't know that we'll ever recover from it; not in this small town."

A woman who declined to be identified but said she was a friend of Mainhart's family and was a retired dispatcher said Mainhart was a "good Christian man with an amazing soul."

Members of the Patriot Guard Riders -- who serve as honor guards at the funerals of military members, police officers and firefighters -- lined Quay Street leading to Cornwell Funeral Home, American flags waving in the wind.

"He deserves respect for serving his country and the city of Dardanelle," said Paul Hopson of Russellville.

Mainhart, an Air Force veteran, had been with the Yell County sheriff's office for five years and had retired from the West Memphis Police Department after more than 20 years on the force there.

David Cone, state captain of the Patriot Guard Riders, said the group began early Friday placing flags along the roadway near the funeral home to honor Mainhart.

"Nobody should lose their life in service to our country without someone here to show respect," Cone said.

Across the street from the funeral home, a large American flag with deep fold creases was draped across the front of a house where three candles burned on the porch -- one for each victim of Thursday's shooting.

"We left them lit all night," James Wolfe said. "What was strange was that the green one for the deputy went out as the hearse pulled in."

Wolfe's 4-year-old granddaughter Miya stopped in midstream of pedaling her tricycle to comment on the activity across the street.

"The police officer died," she said. "A bad man shot him."

Debby Wolfe laughed, then became solemn.

"We've tried to teach her from this that the man made bad choices that led to people getting hurt," Debby Wolfe said.

Tears streamed down James Wolfe's face as he pointed to the flag that once draped a relative's casket.

"This is the first time it's been displayed since it was on [that] coffin," he said. "And it won't be the last."

He pointed to a spot between two pecan trees.

"I'm putting up a flagpole right there," he said.

The flag was a gift from his son-in-law Daniel Turner and his father Lonnie Turner. It replaced a flag that was lost that was on the casket of Wolfe's brother, William Frank Wolfe Jr., who was killed in 1971 during the Vietnam War. The last time it was used was on the casket of Lonnie Turner's father, who fought in World War II.

"I was just heartbroken when my brother's flag came up missing," James Wolfe said. "So they gave me this one."

Chuck Hamilton, Dardanelle's community chaplain who attended church with Mainhart and his family, said the community is in grief.

Law enforcement officers called Hamilton to the hospital Thursday as Mainhart was being rushed there. He broke the news of the death to Mainhart's mother and stayed by the family's side.

"This is rough," he said, shaking his head. "He was a great husband and father. Anything anybody needed, he was there. This community exploded with kindness when they heard of his death."

Donations of money, flowers and food have flooded in for the family. Mainhart's wife, Pam Mainhart, and his two sons, one in high school and the other in the military, are surrounded by friends and family, Hamilton said.

The community also will be there for the families of the two women killed, Hamilton said.

"I want their family to know I'm here for them," he said.

Hamilton has been a constant presence for law enforcement officers during this tragedy, listening when they want to talk. A spokesman with the Yell County sheriff's office said Friday that there would be no comment from the agency about Mainhart's death or his life.

At the scene of Mainhart's shooting sits a portable building that houses a junk shop. On Friday, an outpouring of red-white-and-blue flowers lay against the side of the building. Owner Bob Spicklemyer said he was called by police early Thursday morning to open the building so they could search inside for the gunman.

The flowers, he said, are from the community, from county and local law enforcement officers, and from Mainhart's former colleagues at the West Memphis Police Department.

On Friday, Spicklemyer pointed the way a mile down to Jones Mountain Road, where Sonny Johnson lives. Johnson held Mainhart in his arms as the injured deputy took his last breath, Spicklemyer said.

When asked, Johnson said he didn't want to talk about it and referred an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter to the state police for comment.

A caregiver who worked at a home near the shooting scene said she was the first to arrive at the scene. She asked that her name not be used in order to protect her job.

"I didn't sleep very well last night," she said, grimacing at the memory.

She said she was turning onto Slo Fork Road when she noticed a truck near the cedar-sided building. A man was lying on the ground.

"I thought at first he was looking for something under the house," she said.

Then she saw the blood and pulled onto the property. She dialed 911.

"He lifted his head once, then it fell back again," she said.

Her Bluetooth audio tethered her to her car while she was talking to the 911 dispatcher, so she wasn't able to go to Mainhart's body. Police arrived moments later.

"I was told there was nothing I could've done to help anyway," she said, tears welling in her eyes.

"I grew up in this community," she said. "This is a lot for people to process. It shook us all up."

The driveway at the brown-brick house on Gum Springs Road where the Millers were killed and where police said Bowden had holed up for five hours was filled with vehicles Friday. Children were riding on four-wheelers, and dogs ran in the fenced-in yard.

When approached, a man ordered a reporter away from the home.

"Y'all don't need to be here right now," he said.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson has ordered flags flown at half-staff in Mainhart's honor.

"Lieutenant Mainhart's bravery and dedication to duty was clear and did not falter, even at the risk of death," Hutchinson said in his proclamation.

"Lieutenant Mainhart lived his life trying to make the world safer and the State of Arkansas recognizes his contributions to that esteemed goal. Lieutenant Mainhart will remain an example for all who wish to serve, and we are grateful for his life, actions and memory."

State Desk on 05/13/2017