Little Rock knifing suspect to stay jailed until tests

A former fugitive who is accused of stabbing a Little Rock homeowner during a late-night break-in was ordered jailed without bail Wednesday until state doctors can determine his mental state, a process that could take months.

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Authorities had been looking for Jordan Scott Baker, 31, for a month when he was arrested Aug. 25 at his Browning Road home, the day after Little Rock detectives linked him to a weed trimmer found at a pawnshop that had been stolen during a break-in at a home in the Robinwood neighborhood off Cantrell Road.

Police say Baker stabbed homeowner Chris Hill during a struggle, then dragged the 40-year-old married father of three into some woods on the property before Hill could get away and call police. Hill did not return a phone message Wednesday afternoon.

Baker, who has spent the past 11 years either on parole, on probation or incarcerated, is charged with first-degree battery, breaking or entering, and theft by receiving, charges that together carry 36 years in prison. Prosecutors have yet to review the police findings and file formal charges.

Deputy prosecutor Ashley Bowen petitioned Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson to order Baker held indefinitely. At a five-minute court appearance Wednesday, the judge ruled that the defendant should remain in jail until he can be moved to the Arkansas State Hospital.

Johnson told prosecutors and defense attorney David Sudduth that he wanted Baker in the hospital as soon as possible and asked them to work together to get him there. Baker was still in jail Wednesday night.

According to police reports, officers were called to the 3,500-square-foot Hill home three times over a 9½-hour span on the night of Aug. 18.

A burglar alarm triggered by the door to the home's crawl space prompted the first police visit at 5:15 p.m. The padlock had been cut off the door, and police collected it for evidence because it had muddy fingerprints on it.

Officers also went through the house and the crawl space, which does not provide direct access to the house, but found nothing amiss.

Hill said he could find nothing missing, and there was no indication the house had been broken into, according to police reports

A 911 call from Hill at 8:42 p.m. brought police back.

At CHI St. Vincent Infirmary's emergency room, Hill told detectives Carrie Maulden and Paige Cline that he'd gone to replace the lock and had opened the door to find a man sitting in the crawl space.

He told the stranger to leave and was backing out of the room when the intruder attacked him, hitting him in the back and head, Hill told the detectives. He suffered puncture wounds, and police found a small knife blade on the property.

Hill said he was still trying to back away when the assailant grabbed him by his legs and pulled him to the ground, dragging him down the steps, across the patio and toward some woods north of the house, which sits on about a third of an acre on Crestmont and Kingston drives.

Hill said he finally pulled free and ran into his garage and into the home but didn't see where his attacker went. Police searched the area and questioned neighbors, but did not find the man.

Six hours after Hill was attacked, at 2:51 a.m., Aug. 19, the property's burglar alarm sounded again. Police found the crawl space door open again.

Hill, who was back home by then, said a cordless drill, a socket set, a red gas can and his Stihl weed trimmer had been taken.

Police found that trimmer, identified by its serial number, at a pawn shop. Records showed it had been hocked by Baker.

Shown a photo lineup, Hill "immediately" picked Baker as the man who had attacked him, court records show. Arrested the next day, Baker declined to be interviewed by police.

When police arrested him, Baker was wanted for missing a July court appearance in Little Rock District Court and for missing an Aug. 8 court date in circuit court.

He had been due in circuit court for a report on the progress of doctors at the Arkansas State Hospital in determining whether he was competent to stand trial on a felony terroristic threatening charge.

In that case, he'd been accused of calling his ex-girlfriend, Shallia Strong of Jacksonville, in March 2014 and describing in detail how he planned to shoot her three children to death, court records show.

He was on probation at the time for a July 2011 conviction for stealing copper wire with his brother Justin in Little Rock in December 2010, court records show.

Although police obtained a warrant on the threatening charge in May 2014, he wasn't arrested and jailed until January 2015 and was released on bond three months later.

Little Rock police arrested Baker on June 22 for trespassing at an empty house on Big Oak Lane where officers found him with drug paraphernalia, court records show. He was released the next day.

But an arrest warrant was issued July 7 after he failed to show up at his arraignment in Little Rock District Court.

He wasn't arrested again until detectives were able to tie him to the attack on Hill.

As part of the criminal proceedings in the threatening case, Baker had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and found unfit to proceed during a court-ordered examination by state doctors in August 2015 after his lawyer questioned his mental health.

Officials at the Arkansas State Hospital enrolled him in an outpatient program, but it's not clear how much he participated. In April this year, hospital officials reported that they couldn't get a hold of him at the phone number and home address they'd been given by authorities, according to court filings.

In June, about two months before he was due back in court for a report on his treatment, hospital authorities said Baker had completed his mental evaluation but that they again could not reach him to admit him, court filings show.

Metro on 09/15/2016

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