A Johnson County man was charged Tuesday with manslaughter after he killed a woman he mistook for a deer, according to an affidavit filed in Johnson County Circuit Court.
Dale Williams, 61, shot Jane Rust, 72, on Nov. 11 after she got out of a car to take photographs of the Yale Church on Arkansas 215, according to the affidavit.
The Yale community is about 5 miles west of Oark.
Rust walked a short distance down a trail that leads from a dirt parking lot to the banks of the Little Mulberry River, according to two witnesses who remained in the car.
They heard a gunshot and saw Rust fall to the ground, according to the affidavit written by Charles Beavers of the Johnson County sheriff's office. Rust died at the scene.
"Her body was found on the trail with her cameras," according to the court document.
Williams told Beavers he saw a deer run across the road in front of him, according to the affidavit. Williams took out his .308-caliber bolt-action rifle and fired when he saw "a white flash through the trees," Beavers wrote.
Williams shot Rust from about 171 feet away through "very dense brush" looking uphill, Beavers wrote.
The rifle was found in Williams' utility vehicle, and a shell casing was found under the gas pedal, the affidavit said.
Williams consented to having a sample of his blood taken at a local hospital, reports said. According to a toxicology report, he tested positive for cannabinoids and methamphetamine, Beavers said.
The sheriff's office received a call about the shooting at 1:43 p.m. Nov. 11.
A warrant was issued Tuesday for Williams' arrest, according to a court filing.
According to her obituary, Jane Ellen Holloway Rust was a native of Sparkman.
State Desk on 01/23/2019