Bail in Italian's slaying in west Little Rock is $5,000; case full of holes, suspect's lawyer says

Bail for a 23-year-old Little Rock woman accused of setting up an Italian man for a robbery that turned fatal was set at $5,000 Monday after her lawyer described the case against her as so full of holes that "I think a Mack truck could run through this case several times."

Defense attorney Tom Devine said the evidence against his client, Fanicqua Blalock, has "major holes." He also asked Circuit Judge Herb Wright to consider that she is due to give birth on Nov. 20.

"She'd like to have this baby in the free world," Devine told the judge.

Police based a substantial portion of the case against Blalock on a "magical phone call" from a convicted felon investigators really knew little about, Devine said.

[HOMICIDE MAP: Interactive map of Little Rock’s 2017 killings]

Blalock, who did not testify, has no felony convictions, the attorney said. Jail records show she's also being held for misdemeanor convictions from Sherwood and Pulaski County.

The judge ordered her to report weekly to the probation office once she makes bail.

Deputy prosecutor Ashley Clancy called Blalock a "key player" in setting up Carlo Marigliano for the robbery attempt that killed him. She asked the judge to set sufficient bail to ensure that Blalock shows up at all of her court hearings.

Blalock, already the mother of a 5-year-old son, has been jailed without bail for a little more than a month on capital murder and aggravated robbery charges stemming from Marigliano's July shooting death.

The 31-year-old from Naples, Italy, was found shot dead in his crashed, rented Jeep Grand Cherokee at The Berkley Apartments on Shackleford Road, formerly known as Walnut Ridge apartments.

Prosecutors said Blalock's co-defendant, Andre Lamonte Jackson, 32, who was arrested in August, is the presumed killer, based on witness statements and the discovery of his palm print on the dead man's sport utility vehicle.

Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for the two accused.

Testifying at Monday's bail hearing, homicide detective Wade Niehouse said a police search of the dead man's iPhone turned up an Instagram photo of a woman who had been exchanging Facebook messages with Marigliano, whom police identified as Savannah Johnson.

The phone also showed four calls from Blalock's phone to Marigliano's cell, the detective said. The final call came six minutes before police were called about Marigliano's Jeep crashing at the apartments, he told the judge.

Police were still looking for Johnson a week after the slaying when an acquaintance of hers contacted police and said that Blalock and Johnson could have witnessed the killing, Niehouse testified.

Blalock and Johnson sometimes call each other sisters, but they are only close friends and not related, the detective said.

In a subsequent interview with Johnson, she told police that Marigliano had approached her about getting marijuana and having sex, the detective said. Their first attempt to buy drugs near the Little Rock hotel where Marigliano was staying was unsuccessful because the dealers were too suspicious to sell to them, Niehouse said.

Still in search of marijuana, Johnson, Blalock and Jackson drove a maroon Toyota Avalon, with Marigliano following in the Jeep, to the Walnut Ridge apartments, Johnson told police.

At the apartments, Blalock went looking for marijuana while Jackson walked up to Marigliano in the Jeep, Johnson told police. The men talked and smoked a cigarette together, she said.

Jackson then walked back to the car, got a gun, went back to Marigliano and demanded money, shooting the Italian when he put the Jeep in gear and tried to drive away, Niehouse testified.

Blalock told police she got out of the car at the apartments to go visit her aunt while Johnson got in the Jeep with Marigliano for some kind of sexual favors, Niehouse testified.

Blalock said another woman in the car, Charina Fort, 31, told Jackson to "go on and do that" and Jackson got out of the Avalon, the detective said. Blalock said she heard a gunshot after Jackson got out of the car, Niehouse told the judge.

Blalock was charged after the man who directed police to Blalock and Johnson told police that he had overheard Blalock on the phone telling someone that Jackson was just supposed to rob Marigliano not kill him, according to the detective.

Once detectives traced Marigliano back to his hotel, the Motel 6 on West Markham Street, and looked at surveillance video, their investigation led them first to Fort, whose mother owned the Toyota, Niehouse testified.

Fort was arrested but prosecutors dropped the charges about two months later.

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Metro on 11/08/2017

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