LITTLE ROCK — A 47-year-old North Little Rock man accused of killing his roommate told police that he and the dead man fought over a dominoes game, and that he pulled a gun to scare off the man, but the weapon accidentally fired.
Detective Gary Jones described his interview with defendant Sabas Guerrero Bautista in testimony at a bond hearing Tuesday before special Circuit Judge John Langston.
Charged with first-degree murder, Bautista had been denied bail after his April arrest shortly after police found the body of Cesar Morales Martinez, 51, wrapped in two trash bags in the West 24th Street home the men shared with at least two others.
Langston set bail at $1.5 million at the urging of deputy prosecutor Kathleen McDonald, who said Bautista would be a flight risk if released from jail. He has few ties to the community beyond his nephew and son living there, McDonald said.
Bautista is also under a federal no-bail detainer untilhis immigration status can be resolved.
Defense attorney Dan Hancock said Bautista had lived in Pulaski County for 13 years and had a job at a concrete company.
Jones said Bautista, speaking through a translator, told him that Martinez had thrown him to the ground and that he had gone to his bedroom, retrieved a pistol from under his mattress and gone back to confront Martinez.
Bautista said he intended to scare Martinez, but the weapon fired, the detective said.
Hancock said the killing appeared to be self-defense, but McDonald countered that the victim had been unarmed and that Bautista didn’t callpolice after the shooting.
Significantly, the prosecutor said, the only gun police found was under Bautista’s mattress. It was not clear Tuesday who had called police to the home. Jones said officers were investigating a report of suspicious activity at the trailer.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 07/26/2012