A Franklin County man was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder in the Sept. 6 slashing death of another Franklin County man whom he was trying to rob, according to circuit court records.
Lester Miles Ballinger, 28, of Altus is accused of killing 23-year-old Justin Broomfield on a road in the rural Franklin County community of Denning, south of Altus. He was held without bail Wednesday in the Franklin County jail in Ozark.
An affidavit for an arrest warrant filed by Arkansas State Police Cpl. Phillip Pierce said DNA testing at the state Crime Laboratory determined that blood found on Ballinger's boots, pants and shirt was Broomfield's.
The Franklin County sheriff's office contacted Pierce about the slaying about 11:45 p.m. on Sept. 6. Pierce found Broomfield lying face down on Cherry Street in Denning with a large cut in his neck. There was no wallet with the body, and one of the pockets of Broomfield's jeans was partially turned out, the affidavit said.
The crime laboratory later determined Broomfield's neck wound was the cause of death, according to Pierce's affidavit.
Pierce learned that Broomfield had spent the evening at Tommy Dean's Bar in Altus. The bar's surveillance video recording showed Broomfield leaving the bar about 10:30 p.m. with Ballinger, the affidavit said.
Ballinger was interviewed Sept. 7 and said he and Broomfield went from the bar to a convenience store to find a ride home for Broomfield and to get money from Broomfield's account at an ATM. They were unsuccessful on both counts, he said.
Broomfield wanted to go get drugs, but Ballinger did not want to so they separated, Ballinger told Pierce. According to the affidavit, Ballinger walked home to his parents' home at 301 Roseville in Altus, about 0.7 of a mile from where Broomfield's body was found.
Pierce interviewed Ballinger again Sept. 9, the affidavit said. In that interview, Ballinger said he and Broomfield walked to a home in Denning to buy drugs, giving a vague address on Church Street.
When asked to point on a map to where they went, he pointed to a spot on Alexander Street in Altus, the affidavit said. He couldn't give the last name of the person who he said lived there.
The description Ballinger gave led to an Altus address where Pierce found people in the process of moving in. The new residents said no one was at the house on the night of Sept. 6. When they returned Sept. 7, the affidavit said, the residents found the door locked and nothing inside had been disturbed.
The wife told Pierce that she knew Ballinger, but neither she nor her husband associated with him, the affidavit said.
Metro on 11/19/2015