A Salesville man entered a guilty plea to a first-degree murder charge Thursday and a sentencing hearing was scheduled for June 11.
Twenty-one-year-old Baxter Stowers is accused of killing then 41-year-old Jeremy Wayne Alman of Salesville in early October 2020. Stowers was 17-years-old at the time — two days short of his 18th birthday.
Stowers was also charged with aggravated residential burglary, and criminal use of a prohibited weapon.
Prior to his sentencing hearing, a pre-sentencing report will be prepared and submitted to the court and lawyers for both the state and defense were asked to submit information for the court to consider by June 3.
For logistical reasons, the plea was taken in Marion County Circuit Court. The courtroom was filled with family and friends of Stowers and the victim. There were also a number of corrections officers from the North Central Unit of the Arkansas prison system. The victim worked at the North Central Unit at the time of his death. Additional security was in place both in the courtroom and around the courthouse.
After the plea was entered, retired Circuit Judge Gordon Webb remanded Stowers into the custody of the Baxter County Sheriff’s office. Judge Webb is handling the case on assignment by the Arkansas Supreme Court.
REPORTED INCIDENT HIMSELF
Stowers himself called 911 about 2 p.m. Oct. 5, 2020, and reported he had shot another male at an address along County Road 111.
When deputies responded, they found Stowers waiting for them in the driveway with his hands up.
He was described as wearing red and white Nike shoes, blue jeans and a St. Louis Cardinal logo shirt and to have been holding a wallet and cellphone in his hand.
The victim’s body was found lying on a concrete floor between the front entrance to the residence and a door leading to a screened-in-porch.
He was reported to have several gunshot wounds.
According to a news release from Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery at the time of the incident, the weapon used in the shooting, a .22-caliber Ruger semiautomatic pistol and eight spent .22-caliber shells, were recovered at the scene.
There were no signs of a struggle inside the residence, investigators reported.
JUVENILE COURT MOTION DELAYED CASE
The case has been delayed by a motion to transfer the charges filed against Stowers to juvenile court.
Stower’s attorney, Shane Wilkinson of Bentonville, filed the motion that was initially denied by Judge Webb.
Wilkinson appealed the decision to the Arkansas Court of Appeals which upheld Judge Webb’s findings.
The appeals court did strike down a misdemeanor charge of possession of a handgun by a minor, citing a jurisdictional issue.
SELF DEFENSE CLAIMED
Stowers has claimed self-defense from the beginning. It is alleged that the victim had allegedly showed up at Stowers’ residence the night before the shooting dressed only in his underwear and acting in a way described as “not right.”
Stowers said the visit frightened people in the residence, including his mother. He told investigators he stopped by the victim’s house the next day to find out what the problem was and to ask that the behavior not be repeated.
He said that when the victim answered the door, he was “yelling and screaming” and was alleged to have attacked Stowers.
Stowers told investigators he pulled his firearm from its holster and shot the man. He said it was not unusual for him to carry a gun and that he had been around weapons since he was very young.
PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMS
Judge Webb earlier signed orders for Stowers to undergo psychological examinations at Wilkinson’s request.
The exams were done to determine Stowers’ fitness to proceed in his case and if he could be held criminally responsible for his acts.
Since the information contained in the evaluations is sealed, the public can only assume the person evaluated has been found fit to proceed and able to be held criminally responsible if the case continues beyond the time the evaluations are delivered to the court.
According to electronic court records, the results of the evaluations were filed in November last year and the case has proceeded.
In additional to being placed on inactive status until the report on the psychological exam was received by the court, the Stowers case was also listed as inactive while the appeals court had it on its docket.
Stowers has been free on $200,000 bond.
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