Arkadelphia, Ark., woman now facing capital charge

An Arkadelphia woman accused of killing a man in July has now been charged with capital murder, upgraded from the first-degree murder charge that was filed earlier.

But Prosecutor Blake Batson told the Arkadelphia Siftings Herald on Monday that the death penalty would not be sought for 27-year-old Kayla Michell Nelson.

She is accused of the fatal shooting July 4 of Dominic Whitaker, father of two children born to Nelson.

A friend of Nelson, 24-year-old Jerel Yarber, is also charged in the case. He faces charges of hindering apprehension and abuse of a corpse, accused of helping Nelson move Whitaker’s body from Nelson’s front yard to a site about five miles away in eastern Clark County.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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