A Russellville man released from prison after prosecutors said they could not charge him with assaulting his wife shot and killed her two days after he was freed, authorities said.
Jeffery Craig Ross, 48, is charged with first-degree murder in the death Thursday of Shantrelle Ross, 28, in their Russellville home on James Circle. He is being held in the Pope County jail in Russellville in lieu of a $750,000 bond, Prosecuting Attorney David Gibbons said.
Ross was arrested for violating his parole July 24 after he assaulted his wife, said John Felts, chairman of the Parole Board. In 2012, Ross was convicted of possession and delivery of methamphetamine or cocaine and sentenced to 5½ years in prison.
He received parole in December 2013 and was placed on regulated supervision, Felts said.
After the July 24 altercation with his wife, Ross was charged with violating parole. According to Russellville police, Ross kicked down a door in the home, pointed a knife at his wife and threatened to kill her.
He was taken to the Department of Correction's Ouachita River Unit in Malvern on Sept. 13.
Gibbons said he intended to charge Ross with aggravated assault, but Shantrelle Ross said she didn't want to file charges.
"She said drinking was involved, and it wasn't his fault," Gibbons said. "She asked us not to prosecute him."
Gibbons wrote a letter to the Parole Board saying he could not prosecute Ross, and Ross was released Sept. 20. Two days later, Ross killed his wife, police said.
"We had no choice," Felts said. "It would have been good for the victim to have assisted with the prosecution. This had a very bad ending."
Gibbons said a 2004 U.S. Supreme Court case, Crawford v. Washington, ruled that victims' statements to police are considered hearsay if they do not want to prosecute, and cannot be used as evidence.
"It is troubling to a lot of prosecutors," he said. "It concerns all of us when victims don't want to prosecute.
"Ross gets out of jail and kills her," he said. "I wish he had remained in custody."
Felts said Ross had no parole violations on his record in the three years he had been out of prison.
"Apparently something went south with he and his wife," Felts said. "Everybody we deal with is a convicted felon. They all have the potential to do this.
"It's a very sad situation."
State Desk on 09/28/2016