Arkansas Digest, 1-8

— Suspects in fatal shooting were attempting robbery

JONESBORO - A judge has set multi-million-dollar bails for two men suspected of a robbery attempt that ended with the shooting death of a 16-year-old and the hospitalization of three others, records show.

Craighead County District Judge David Boling found probable cause on Monday to charge Flando Montgomery, 19, of Marion, and Tarus Bedford, 21, of Turrel, with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Malcom Jemison.Montgomery and Bedford were also charged with first-degree battery, aggravated robbery, two counts of attempted murder and seven counts of aggravated assault tied to the shooting that injured Quenterius Finch, 23; Cedric Finch, 28; and Chauncey Thomas, 21, all of Jonesboro. Bedford faces an additional felony charge of unauthorized use of another person’s property to facility certain crimes, the affidavit said.

About 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jonesboro police were sent to 3516 Galaxy St., where officers found the four victims with gunshot wounds. Jemison later died. Police said two of the victims required surgery and the other person had non-life threatening injuries.

During the course of the investigation, police learned that Bedford and another man went to the Galaxy Street residence an hour before the shooting to buy marijuana, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Police said Bedford returned to the residence with Montgomery with the intent to rob the people inside.

Montgomery entered the residence and shot Jemison, and then he and Bedford shot the the other victims, an affidavit said. Craighead County deputy prosecutor Charlene Henry said Monday the shooting was “organized criminal activity.”

Ark. sheriff’s deputy fired after shooting dog

CONWAY (AP) — A sheriff’s office in central Arkansas has fired a deputy who was captured on video shooting and wounding a small dog while on duty.

Faulkner County Sheriff Tim Ryals said on the office’s Facebook page Saturday that Deputy Keenan Wallace was “relieved of his duties” one day after the incident in Conway, about 25 miles north of Little Rock.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports Wallace was responding to a call Friday evening when the dog, named Reese’s, was shot in the face. An earlier statement from the sheriff’s office said the dog was aggressive.

Doug Canady, who recorded the shooting, tells the newspaper he took Reese’s to a veterinarian and that the dog has a broken jaw.

Arkansas panel to hold hearing on herbicide rules

LITTLE ROCK (AP) — An Arkansas panel will begin taking public comments next week and hold a hearing in February on a plan to allow restricted use of an herbicide that was banned following complaints that it drifted onto crops and caused damage.

The Arkansas Plant Board will begin accepting public comments Monday through Feb. 5 on the proposed restrictions for the use of dicamba. The new restrictions prohibit dicamba’s in-crop use from May 21 to Oct. 31. The rule includes a one-mile buffer zone around research stations, organic crops, specialty crops, non-tolerant dicamba crops and other sensitive crops for applications from April 16 to May 20.

The panel will hold a public hearing Feb. 20 on the proposed regulations.

Report indicates speed played role in fatal crash

LITTLE ROCK (AP) — An initial police report indicates a charter bus carrying elementary school-age football players from Tennessee was going too fast when it rolled off an Arkansas interstate last month and overturned, killing a 9-year-old and injuring at least 45 others.

A recently released Arkansas State Police crash report says the driver was exiting Interstate 30 near Benton, 25 miles east of Little Rock, on Dec. 3 when she applied her brakes. The report says the bus couldn’t slow before it left the roadway , struck a ditch and overturned.

The report notes “inattentive, careless, negligent or erratic” driving as a factor, but does not elaborate.

A state police spokesman said Friday the crash is still under investigation and nothing has been forwarded to prosecutors seeking charges.

The children from the Orange Mound Youth Association in Memphis, Tennessee, were returning home from a football tournament in the Dallas area.

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