By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
Police have officially charged one of three suspects in a triple homicide with capital murder.
St. Francis County Sheriff's Department Chief Investigator Glenn Ramsey said Jimmy Lee Mills, 30, of Forrest City, was charged with three counts of capital murder on Wednesday. The warrants were served on Mills at a detention facility located outside St. Francis County where he is being held for safety reasons.
Mills is charged in the deaths of Dylan A. Boyd, 31, his brother, Carl Boyd, 21, and a third victim, Dewayne Stewart, 27. The men were shot multiple times inside a Crow Creek residence on Dec. 7.
Mills was already charged with one count of capital murder involving the Dec. 28 shooting death of Voltaurus Parchman, 22. Parchman was shot numerous times during a home invasion at his residence on Inglewood Drive on Dec. 28.
Mills was scheduled to be arraigned on the new charges this afternoon in Forrest City District Court.
Ramsey said capital murder warrants have also been obtained for a second suspect in the case, Kevin Mosby, 30, 214 W. Cook St., Forrest City. "The warrants will be served on Mosby in the next day or two," Ramsey said, adding that Mosby is being held at the same facility as Mills.
Following the Dec. 7 murders, the three suspects reportedly fled Forrest City in a van stolen from a local car rental business, according to police. The van was found later in Wisconsin, and Mills and Mosby were arrested on Jan. 9 in Hudson, Wisc.
A third suspect, however, remains at large. Ramsey said capital murder warrants have also been issued for this subject, Steven Dewayne Neal, 35, of Marianna. "He is still unaccounted for," Ramsey said.
A Calvary Christian High School student is no longer attending classes at the private school following a judge's ruling Wednesday evening.
Attorneys in the case involving a student who was disenrolled by school officials presented testimony on the matter during an all-day hearing Wednesday at the St. Francis County Courthouse before Circuit Court Judge Kathleen Bell.
The student's parents were notified last Thursday that their son, a junior honor student and athlete, would no longer be able to attend school at Calvary. However, Circuit Court Judge Ben Story on Friday signed a restraining order preventing the school from removing the child until a court hearing on the matter.
The boy had been attending classes at Calvary this week until Bell lifted the restraining order Wednesday. In addition, she also ruled that no irreparable harm would be suffered by the student due to his expulsion, issued a gag order in the case and agreed that the second hearing over the supposed breach of contract by Calvary would be scheduled as soon as possible.
Bell had no comment on lifting the restraining order, but said the child would no longer be attending classes at Calvary.
As for the gag order, Bell said that move basically affects anyone associated with the matter such as attorneys, plaintiffs, defendants and associates.
"The gag order was put in place because this is a case that involves a minor, and we didn't want people talking to the school officials about this child's school records and anything involving him," Bell commented on the move. "This is a typical thing that is done to attempt to protect a child as much as we can."
During testimony on Wednesday, the court heard from Calvary High School Principal Allen Jackson and the father of the boy disenrolled.
Jackson testified that the school operates under a Matthew 18 principal which basically says that differences should be reconciled by first conferring with the most immediate staff member related to an incident in question, and then only pursuing the chain of authority when matters are not acceptably resolved.
The problems involving the student apparently stem from certain matters in which the boy's parents voiced opposition to the ways in which the school administration handled certain matters.
Jackson testified about an incident which had occurred earlier this month in which the student was cited for his behavior, but not suspended. The school administration met with the student's parents the following day in an attempt to resolve the issue, Jackson said, adding that the parents refused to sign an agreement that would have required the student to go to Saturday school as part of his punishment and also wanted other things changed in the agreement before they would sign it.
According to Jackson, he and another administrator changed the disciplinary action on the agreement and added a paragraph which stated the parents would agree to not speak negatively about the school, teachers or administrators, and would not do anything to disturb the unity of the school and would be supportive of the school and its policies.
Jackson testified the parents failed to abide by the agreement signed on Jan. 10 by allegedly continuing to attack a certain school administrator. "They made personal comments about teachers," said Jackson. "They said one teacher was a 'joke,' and from Jan. 7 until now, the mother would continue to sit in my office and verbally attack a certain administrator by calling her names and with personal accusations to her character." The principal claimed this was a direct violation of the Matthew 18 policy.
Under cross-examination by Richard Proctor, plaintiff for the family, Jackson said the school had also violated policy by failing to suspend the student for his bad behavior, and said the administration in question had also made comments about the student's mother. "She (the administrator) called her a liar. She called her a devil," Jackson testified.
As to the name-calling by the mother, Jackson testified that the accusations were sexual in nature and that the mother had accused the administrator of illegal activity.
In the original complaint, the family alleged that Calvary had lost its accreditation. Jackson said the school is not accredited by the American Association of Christian Schools International because that association requires a minimum enrollment of 51 at the high school level, and the school has only 50 students in the high school. However, he did say the school is accredited by the Non-Public School Accreditation Association.
The boy's father also testified. He told the court he felt the school administration was out to get his son because he (the father) had tried to better the school. He also said he did not feel he should have to abide by the Matthew 18 policy because he had organized a new parent involvement group. "Matthew 18 doesn't apply to me because I head this parent organization which I formed to look out for the interest of the parents," said the father.
The father testified he felt his son would be harmed if he attended a school other than Calvary because he felt he would not be able to play basketball at another school due to a disability. He also said the boy could not receive the daily Bible studies and prayers at another school that he receives at Calvary.
As for the name-calling involving the unnamed school administrator, the father said he was just passing on information he received from another parent to the school board president and Jackson. "I was not gossiping when I told them what she was because I was told this by another parent, so I didn't have to follow Matthew 18. The parent who told me these things should have gone to the administrator. I did nothing wrong," the father said.
The parent testified that he had not checked with any other schools regarding his son taking classes there because he said he wants his son to go to Calvary.
Forrest City High School Principal Abbie Robinson testified that a straight-A student like the one in question would have very little trouble transferring in the middle of the semester, even with the block scheduling at the school. "All classes the student currently takes at Calvary, with the exception of physics, are offered at the public high school," she said.
Robinson also stated that it was not true that the student would not be accepted to play basketball at the school. "All he has to do is try out for the team," said Robinson. "We have other students who transferred in. They are dressed out for the team and will be allowed to play as time goes on."
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
A growing problem with vicious dogs is drawing more and more complaints, and St. Francis County Sheriff Dave Parkman wants to make sure that although there is no ordinance on the books pertaining to all dogs, there is a county ordinance pertaining to vicious dogs.
According to Parkman, the Sheriff's Department has been receiving calls regarding dogs that are allowed to roam freely, and have been harassing individuals.
"Although we don't have an ordinance on the books that stops people from allowing their dogs to run free, we do have an ordinance that doesn't allow vicious dogs to run loose. Here lately, we've been getting more and more calls regarding dogs, so I just wanted to get the word out that there is an ordinance against vicious dog," said Parkman.
According to Parkman, although he doesn't want to have to arrest anyone for non-compliance with the ordinance, one of the options provided for people issuing complaints is the arrest of the owner of the animal in question.
"We don't want to have to start arresting people for these dogs, but if complaints continue to come in, then that's one of the things provided for in the ordinance," Parkman said.
According to officials with Forrest City District Court, the fine for violating the county's vicious dogs ordinance is $300.
Police are searching for two men suspected in separate sexual assaults Wednesday in Forrest City.
On Wednesday morning, a 17-year-old Forrest City girl told police she was able to fight off a male subject inside her home on South Rosser Street about 10:30 a.m.
According to a report at the Forrest City Police Department, the teen said the suspect started hitting her after she refused to have sex with him. The teen was able to fight back during which time the suspect fled her home.
Another Forrest City teenager told police she was raped by a former boyfriend at her home in Grobmyer Circle about 10 p.m. Wednesday.
According to the report, the 19-year-old victim's former boyfriend reportedly took her into a bedroom where he allegedly forced her to have sex with him.
The investigation is continuing in both cases.