By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
A Forrest City man was airlifted from the scene of a shooting Wednesday afternoon.
The Forrest City Police Department reported Kendrick Rogers, 20, 2001 Williams St., was allegedly shot by Fred Whitfield, 33, 234 N. Powell, following an argument just after 4 p.m.
FCPD Criminal Investigation Division Sgt. Brian Davis said the two men had been arguing over some children during the day, and Whitfield had left Rogers' presence, only to return a short time later with a .38 caliber pistol. According to the police report, three shots were allegedly fired, and Rogers was struck at least twice in his upper body area.
Rogers' injuries were serious enough for the local emergency personnel to request an air transfer for him to the Med Center in Memphis. The Hospital Wing landed about 5 p.m. on Highway 70, near Synergy Gas, backing up traffic for about 20 minutes while Rogers was loaded onto the helicopter.
According to Med officials, Rogers is listed in serious condition today at the Memphis hospital.
The shooting occurred about 4:20 p.m. outside the Joyce Cunningham residence at 306 N. Powell, according to the police report.
Following the shooting, Whitfield allegedly fled into a nearby residence where he was later arrested by police and transported to the St. Francis County Jail.
Whitfield told police he had thrown the weapon into nearby brush, but after an extensive search of that area, police found the weapon inside the residence where they had arrested Whitfield.
Whitfield is charged with attempted capital murder. He is scheduled to be arraigned in Forrest City Municipal Court Friday morning.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The trial of a man accused of abandoning two of his children to die in rural St. Francis County began this morning, with the prosecution saying the evidence will show the guilt of Alex Ware and the defense claiming that the death of one child was accidental and the second child is still alive.
Ware, 35, of Memphis, is charged in the deaths of his two sons, Xavier Alexander Harrell, 1, and K-Von Harrell, 2. It is alleged that Ware abandoned the children to die in rural St. Francis County in June of 1999.
Opening statements came after a defense motion for a continuance of 60-90 days was denied by Circuit Judge Harvey Yates.
Raymond Abramson, one of Ware's attorneys, told the judge that Ware had only yesterday "disclosed to us what his side" of the case is.
They said he made a statement "basically to the effect that the death of Xavier was an accident and K-Von is still alive," said Abramson. "This changes the strategies of the defense...We have a complete turnaround in how we will present the case to the jury."
They asked for a continuance for a "reasonable length of time to try to locate K-Von."
Yates said he saw no merit in the request, and said if a continuance was granted every time a defendant came up with last minute changes in his story, it would cause endless delays.
"There are remedies available if K-Von should be proven to be alive," said Yates.
Abramson also asked that testimony by anthropologist Dr. Cheryl May not be admitted because, he said, the defense team had not seen her report until jury selection was under way.
Prosecuting Attorney Fletcher Long responded that "They have known for months that Dr. May was out there and that she would testify." He said they had adequate time to interview May or get their own expert. "That's their job," he said.
Yates ruled that the request was untimely.
Abramson also asked that Dr. May not be allowed to testify about marks on Xavier's bones which indicated they had been chewed by animals. He said it was irrelevant.
Long said the prosecution's case was based on the deaths of the two children were killed in a "particularly cruel and depraved fashion" and that part of that case was the leaving of two helpless children to the elements and wild animals.
Yates also denied that defense motion.
Yates then granted a prosecution motion that the defense not be allowed to ask the mother of the children, Chantilly Harrell, whether she believes K-Von is alive, unless it was based on some known fact and not simple opinion.
After the motions were heard the trial began and the jury, made up of two white men, nine white women and one black woman was brought into the courtroom. The two alternates are white women.
In an opening statement, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Gary Mitchusson said that Ware and Harrell had lived together and had two children. He said Harrell had left Ware and taken the two children with her.
He said that coming up to the Father's Day weekend of June 1999, Ware called Harrell and asked if he could see the children for Father's Day, and she said yes.
It was over that weekend, Mitchusson said, that the children were taken to St. Francis County and abandoned.
"He used his position as a father," said Mitchusson. "He used the occasion of Father's Day. Once the facts are known, this father should get his day, and be convicted of two counts of capitol murder."
Jerry Coleman, the second member of Ware's defense team, said it would be proved that the death of Xavier was an accident, and that Ware admittedly panicked. He said in that panic, he brought the child's body to St. Francis County and left it. After that, according to Coleman, he was afraid to tell the truth to Harrell.
He also said that K-Von is alive in Illinois. He did not say where.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The mother of two children allegedly left to die in St. Francis County by their father testified this morning as the first prosecution witness in the trial over their deaths.
Chantilly Harrell, 21, of Memphis, is the mother of Xavier Alexander Harrell, 1, and K-Von Cortez Harrell, 2. It is alleged that during June of 1999, their father, Alex Ware, brought the two children from Memphis to rural St. Francis County, where he abandoned them.
Harrell said she and Ware had an abusive relationship. She said this included stabbing her, burning her with an iron and hitting her with a barbell. She said that in June of 1999 she had left him, taken her children and gone to live with her mother.
"I told him the relationship was over," she said she told him after leaving.
She testified that as Father's Day weekend approached, Ware called her and asked if he could see the children. She testified that at the time, she saw no cause for alarm. "He wasn't raving and ranting," she said.
She said that on the next morning, Ware called her and said, "I don't know what I've done." She said she asked him where the children were, and he said "You won't see them again. You'll never see them alive."
She said at that point, she made a report to the Memphis Police Department. The police contacted Ware and apparently Ware agreed to bring the children to the police station, but never did.
She said the next conversation she had with Ware was over the phone. "He said he was watching me," she said.
She said the following week he called her and said, "When all of this is over, will it be worth it?"
Harrell alleged that Ware changed his story on several occasions about where the children were. Once he told her to come with him and she would see the children. She said he drove her to Detroit and Chicago, but they did not find her children.
She testified that Ware brought her back to Memphis and said next they would go to Florida for the children. At that point she called her mother, her mother called the police and eventually Ware was arrested. That was in early September.
In a brief cross examination, Jerry Coleman, one of Ware's defense team, asked if she had ever been abusive to Ware. She once she had stabbed him in self-defense.
He also asked Harrell what she said when a Memphis day care center called her to ask where the children were. She said she didn't remember that phone call.
Harrell also repeated that she was not afraid for the children's safety when she first took them to Ware.
Forrest City High School's Mustang Arena will play host to the 2001 Class 5-A State Tournament beginning next month.
Mustang Arena, the new 2,000-seat facility that was completed three years after the school's previous gymnasium was destroyed by fire, was awarded the tournament in Wednesday night's meeting of the Arkansas Activities Association Board of Directors held in Little Rock.
Forrest City was selected as the site over the Pine Bluff Convention Center, which hosted last year's event. Wednesday's board meeting determined basketball state and regional tournament sites throughout the state.
"We're going to put on a tournament the state has never seen the likes of before," Forrest City School District Superintendent Lee Vent said. "We think Forrest City is the star of the Delta, and a rising star at that."
Vent said one of Forrest City's biggest selling points in securing the state tournament was the willingness of the city's volunteers. Vent said the school's booster club was instrumental in urging the city to submit a bid for the tournament.
Forrest City has been the site of the Rumble on the Ridge Tournament the last four years. That tournament is held annually during the Thanksgiving weekend.
"I think the fact that we've proven ourselves time and time again with the Rumble was a big reason why we were selected," FCSD Athletic Director Bill Baxter said. "Our people have proven that they are willing to work and pitch in wherever it needs to be done."
Baxter said the school has had at least 150 volunteers every year to work the Rumble and that the same volunteers are anxious to do the same with the state tournament. Mustang Arena played host to its first game this past Thanksgiving Day.
Baxter said he is beginning work today on the tournament which is scheduled to tip off on Tuesday, Feb. 27. The city will host 32 teams 16 boys and 16 girls from throughout the state for the event which will run through Saturday, March 3. The games will be played through the semi-finals because Pine Bluff hosts the finals for each classification each year.
"This is going to be a little different from the Rumble because we'll be playing six games a day," Baxter said.
"We'll probably end up having to have even more volunteer help than in the past because we realize most people can't get off at 1 o'clock every day," Baxter said. "Maybe our help can get off a one day or a half a day. It's going to take a lot of people, but it will be worth it to this community because there will be literally thousands of people in here for this week-long event.
Baxter said he feels Mustang Arena is a better setting for the tournament than the Pine Bluff Convention Center, which seats 7,000 people, or Bud Walton at Fayetteville, which seats about 20,000. "Our position is we'd rather play with 2,000 fans in a 2,000-seat gym than with 2,000 fans in a 7,000-seat gym. The atmosphere is just better," he said.
Although no reason was given as to why Forrest City was awarded the tournament, Baxter said he feels the city's reputation in sponsoring the Rumble played a factor in the decision. "My best guess is we've developed a reputation with the Rumble of hosting a quality tournament combined with the new arena. The fact that the state tournament hasn't been in Eastern Arkansas in several years was probably also a factor," Baxter noted.
As for volunteers, Baxter urges anyone who wants to participate in the event to contact him or the school district.