Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright denied bail Tuesday for a restaurant owner accused of killing a pregnant North Little Rock woman and her unborn child after hearing claims that the defendant has inquired into having witnesses killed.
Quenton Edward King, 36, of Scott did not testify during the 74-minute hearing. The father of two is charged with two counts of capital murder in the June slaying of 36-year-old Megan Price, a mother of two, and her unborn daughter whom she had planned to name Keela Vernae Price.
King has been held without bail since surrendering to North Little Rock police nine days after the woman's body was found. He and his wife of 15 years own the Chicken King restaurants in Little Rock and North Little Rock.
Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence.
King's attorney, Ron Davis, told the judge that all of the accusations and charges against his client are "propped up by partial truths and innuendos," some coming from "jailhouse snitches" who are hoping to curry favor with federal authorities.
One federal inmate who had been jailed with King has told authorities that King offered to pay $5,000 to anyone who would locate one witness for him. The inmate told investigators that King said he wanted to "take care of business" himself, according to testimony.
King also complained that Price's oldest daughter was "a problem" for him, the inmate told investigators.
The judge also heard that King approached a second federal inmate in 2012 about having Price killed.
Both of those inmates as well as a jail acquaintance of King's said he had told them he had killed Price, an accusation at which the defense attorney scoffed.
Davis pointed out that for all their claims about hearing details of the killing from King, none of them could describe Price's slaying believably.
Details of the investigation might have been deliberately withheld from the news media, Davis told the judge, but that information was circulating in the jail. Those "snitches" were trying to use that information to get leniency in their own cases, the defense attorney said.
Price was found shot to death in her North Oaks Lane home in June, two days after authorities last knew her to be alive, deputy prosecutor Jeanna Sherrill said Tuesday.
Her oldest daughter discovered the woman's body after not being able to raise her on the phone for the previous two days, detective Clint O'Kelley told the judge.
Price was found naked, shot in the head three times, sprawled between her bedroom and bathroom, he said.
Four to five days before she was killed, Price had posted on Facebook that she was 36 weeks pregnant with King's child, the detective said. That post was subsequently removed, but O'Kelley testified that police were able to retrieve a copy.
Her daughter told police that when she last spoke to her mother, Price had been looking forward to spending two days alone with King, O'Kelley testified.
The 21-year-old daughter said she was going to be staying with her own boyfriend during that time while Price's mother was going to care for Price's 8-year-old daughter for those days, the detective said.
Both the daughter and Price's mother tried to reach the victim by phone over those days, but were not able to contact her, he testified.
O'Kelley said Price had not used her cellphone since the day her daughter last spoke to her. Police have Price on video surveillance shopping at a Dollar General about 9:30 p.m. that night, and she can be seen with the phone, he said.
Authorities believe Price was killed the same night she said she was going to meet King, the detective said. Price's sister told him that Price ritually showered before seeing King, he added.
Police found lots of candles in her kitchen, living room and bathroom, some of them still burning when her body was discovered, the detective said.
That discovery was significant because her neighborhood had lost electricity that night, and her power was off for five hours that night until it was restored at 22 minutes after midnight, he told the judge.
Reached by phone the day after Price's body was found, King said he was in Eudora but that he had learned about Price's killing when her brother called him to blame him for her death and to threaten him, O'Kelley told the judge.
King told investigators that he and Price had a 14-year relationship, the detective said.
In July, an associate of King's came forward and said that King had told him he killed Price because he would "lose everything" if his wife found out Price was pregnant with his child.
The witness said that King also told him that after shooting Price, he lifted the woman's arms above her head to stop her breathing, O'Kelley said. Price's right arm was above her head when her body was found, the detective said.
O'Kelley also said the witness reported that King also told him that King used Price's phone to delete the Facebook pregnancy announcement, then threw the phone onto the highway to destroy it.
One argument in favor of King's release is that he needs specialized medical attention to recover from being shot multiple times on March 13 at J&S Auto Sales, 1701 E. Broadway in North Little Rock.
He was shot 10 times and the subsequent nerve damage could keep him from regaining full use of his hands without treatment, his wife, 37-year-old Jamie King, told the judge.
According to police reports, King and passenger Anthony Tyrone Davis, 41, of Newport, were in King's 2014 GMC Sierra pickup at the car lot when they were shot in the arms, hands and stomach by a man King identified as "Jo Jo from Dixie."
Joe Willie Mitchell III, 32, of North Little Rock was charged in the shooting 11 days later and is now awaiting trial on charges of first-degree battery and committing a terroristic act, charges that together carry a potential life sentence.
Metro on 01/20/2016