FAYETTEVILLE -- A man charged in connection with accomplice to capital murder in the killing of a Springdale man last year is mentally fit to be tried, according to doctors at the Arkansas State Hospital.
Junior Betero Teorea, 18, was diagnosed with alcohol and cocaine use disorder and disruptive mood disorder, but he does not have a mental disease or defect, doctors reported to Washington County Circuit Judge Joanna Taylor this week. Doctors said Teorea also understands the proceedings against him and can participate in his defense.
Legal lingo
Accomplice
Someone who aids in the commission of a crime. An accomplice is distinguished from an accessory by usually being present or directly aiding in the crime and may share in the same charge and punishment as the principal criminal.
Source: uslegal.com
Teorea along with Anferney Amram, 18, and Tracy Andrew Schuman, 34, are charged with accomplice to capital murder and aggravated residential burglary in connection with the shooting of Xavier Williams.
Police found Williams, 24, dead Aug. 17, 2017, in his apartment at Strawberry Meadows Place. He was shot multiple times with a 9mm handgun Aug. 16, 2017, according to a police report.
Amram told police he shot Williams because he threatened Amram's family. He said he planned to kill Williams a few months earlier, and he stole the gun with which to shoot him, according to a news release.
Amram told police Teorea shot Williams twice. Teorea denied shooting Williams. In an interview with police, Teorea said he pointed a gun at Williams but pretended it jammed. Teorea said Amram shot Williams several times.
Teorea also told police they went to Williams' apartment to steal drugs.
Teorea was 16 at the time of the shooting but was charged as an adult. He faces life in prison if convicted of the murder charge and 10 to 40 years or life on the burglary charge. Because of his age, the death penalty is not an option for Teorea.
Teorea is being held in the Washington County Juvenile Detention Center with no bond set.
If convicted, Amram faces life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. Prosecutors haven't said whether they intend to seek the death penalty against him.
Amram is being held at the Washington County Detention Center with no bond set.
Schuman has pleaded not guilty to accomplice to capital murder and hindering apprehension. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty if convicted. Prosecutors haven't said whether they intend to seek the death penalty against Schuman.
He is free on bond pending trial.
Two other men, Albert Davis and Billson Andrike, both 20, are charged in connection with accomplice to tampering with evidence and accomplice to residential burglary. Both have pleaded not guilty. The residential burglary charge carries a potential sentence of 10 to 40 years or life with the possibility of parole after 20 years.
Davis told police he and Andrike went into the apartment and picked up bullet casings and Williams' cellphone and threw them away somewhere in Springdale, according to a police report.
Amram took the gun, pulled it apart and threw it out of a moving vehicle in Bentonville, according to a police report.
NW News on 02/23/2019