This is a roundup of felony charges filed recently by the Clark County Prosecutor’s Office. Some defendants may also have misdemeanor charges against them, but they are not included here. The following names and charges, which are contained within public documents, are gathered from online court records available through ARCourts. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Here’s a rundown of felony cases filed recently:
Suspects found with pistol modified as machine gun
Two Arkadelphia men were jailed when police found them to be in possession of drugs and firearms, including one that was modified to be a fully automatic weapon.
On Dec. 29, 2024, Clark County deputies were called to a Texas Road residence for a report of a suspicious vehicle and suspects knocking at a window. Police arrived to find the vehicle occupied by the driver, Kaden King-Lewis, and Garrian Allison. Upon approaching the vehicle a deputy caught a whiff of marijuana and asked both to exit the vehicle.
A search of the car yielded two 9mm handguns, one in the floorboard of each side of the vehicle, as well as a styrofoam cup containing marijuana. Both suspects were transported to the jail and held for continued detention. Both are convicted felons with past firearm charges. King-Lewis had involvement in a 2023 robbery in Arkadelphia that resulted in the deaths of two individuals.
Police later determined that one of the firearms “seemed different” and therefore videoed a test-fire, discovering then that the weapon had been modified to be a machine gun.
Allison, who turns 23 this month, is being charged with Possession of Firearms by a Certain Person, a Class B felony punishable by 5-20 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $15,000.
King-Lewis had not been charged in this case at the time of this writing.
Drug deals with narcotics agent lead to arrest of career offender
An Arkadelphia woman with a history of narcotics-related offenses became the target of a drug investigation.
An agent with the Group 6 Narcotics Unit set up three separate controlled buys using what police call “buy money” to purchase methamphetamine from 40-year-old Jennifer Desiree Edwards.
Court documents indicate that, on three separate occasions within the same week of December, Edwards and the agent planned and carried out the transactions at the parking lot of Winner’s Circle gas station at 10th and Caddo streets.
Larger quantities of meth were exchanged on each transaction, with the final purchase being 1 ounce of the drug in exchange for $400.
Edwards left the final transaction and was arrested during a traffic stop. A police indictment lists eight felony charges against Edwards, including distribution near certain facilities and felony use of a communication device.
The prosecutor’s office officially charged Edwards with Delivery of Methamphetamine (less than 2 grams), a Class C felony punishable by 3-30 years in prison; Delivery of Methamphetamine (between 2-10 grams), a Class B felony punishable by 5-40 years in prison; and Delivery of Methamphetamine (between 10-200 grams), a Class Y felony punishable by 10 years to life in prison. The prosecutor is seeking a sentence enhancement given Edwards’s status as an habitual offender.
Gurdon man fires shot during argument with cousin
A Gurdon man is being charged for pulling a gun on his cousin and firing a shot as the two fought for the weapon.
Clark County deputy sheriffs were dispatched Nov. 26, 2024, to a shots-fired call at a Curtis residence on US Highway 67. There they met with a couple residing in a fifth-wheel camper owned by the male’s cousin, Jonathan Zachary Francis; the two had apparently been in an ongoing argument for several days.
Francis, 46, went to the camper to retrieve some of his belongings. Finding the door ajar, he went inside and was met by the cousin but continued entering the camper. A fight ensued, and Francis allegedly pulled a handgun from his pocket and aimed it at the cousin, who pulled Francis’s arm down as the weapon fired. No one was hit in the gunfire.
Francis’s statement to investigators corroborated what the cousin had told police.
He is charged with Aggravated Assault, a Class D felony punishable by up to six years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
Doorbell camera records attack of Arkadelphia man, 66
A Ring doorbell camera helped Arkadelphia police solve the attack of a 66-year-old man outside his home.
On Aug. 27, 2024, officers were summoned to a Wade Street residence for a fight in progress. The victim told police that a verbal altercation ensued when two males approached him at his home. The argument turned physical, and the victim tripped on gravel and fell to the ground. While on his hands and knees, he said, the two assailants struck him with their fists and what he believed to be a tire iron.
A neighbor provided police with footage recorded by a doorbell camera that showed two black males punching and kicking the victim in the head, and throwing objects at him.
The victim identified one of his attackers as Albert Wright Gates Jr., of Arkadelphia. An arrest warrant was issued Oct. 3.
Gates, 30, was arrested on the afternoon of New Year’s Day, when a Clinton Street woman summoned police to her residence for an unwanted guest. Gates initially gave police a false name, although a detective who responded was able to identify him as a suspect wanted for multiple warrants, including a police indictment for second-degree battery.
A Criminal Information filed by the prosecutor’s office charges Gates with Domestic Battery-3rd Degree, a Class A misdemeanor that carries a jail sentence of up to one year and/or a fine of up to $2,500.
Arkadelphia man charged for pawning stolen jewelry
Following an October 2024 complaint from a Cutler Street woman regarding stolen jewelry, Arkadelphia police followed through an investigation that led to felony theft by receiving charges against the suspect.
The woman told police she opened her jewelry box to find 10 gold diamond rings were missing, suspecting that 33-year-old Dramethius Qysian Pace was the culprit, as she had allowed Pace to reside with her following his release from jail. In conducting her own investigation, she had checked with a local pawn shop, where an employee was familiar with the description of the stolen goods but would need a police report to release the information to her.
An Arkadelphia detective searched and found Pace in a law enforcement database that identifies individuals who have pawned items, discovering Pace had pawned several gold items at Arkadelphia Gun & Pawn, 201 Robey St. Pace had pawned gold on 13 occasions during October and received $1,430 from the transactions.
In mid-November, police went to the pawn shop and were given access to the items Pace had pawned, observing that some of the items matched photos of the rings stolen from the victim. She was then shown the pictures, identifying each item as belonging to her, as well as some she hadn’t realized were stolen.
With a restraining order now against Pace, the victim summoned police to her residence on the morning of Dec. 9 when Pace showed up there. He was arrested for the felony theft warrant and cited for violating the restraining order.
Pace is charged with Theft by Receiving ($1,000-$5,000), a Class D felony punishable by up to six years in prison and/or a fine of up to $10,000.
Death threats sent to parents nets felony charge
A man faces felony and misdemeanor charges after allegedly texting death threats to his parents.
Kyler Phifer, 21, is accused of sending a slew of threatening messages to his parents. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office investigated the correspondence, which was at first brought to law enforcement’s attention the week of Thanksgiving but were considered “very vague and harsh.” The next week, however, a second report was generated — this time, four of the 30-plus sent messages included death threats. Phifer added that, if he didn’t, he would pay someone for the murders.
Terroristic Threatening is a Class D felony that carries imprisonment of up to six years and/or a fine of up to $10,000. Harassing Communications is a Class A misdemeanor and is punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a fine of up to $2,500.