An Arkansas man who was recaptured four days after escaping jail is now charged with the murder of the man he was initially accused of assaulting, police said.
Aaron Singleton, 27, was first arrested Dec. 1 in connection with an attack on Brenun Clayton, 40, authorities said. Clayton, who was from Little Rock, died Sunday from injuries sustained in that attack, a spokesman for the Malvern Police Department said.
Surveillance footage outside a home in the 500 block of Oaklawn Street in Malvern showed Singleton striking Clayton in the face, causing him to fall backward onto a concrete walkway outside the home and sustain a serious head injury, according to a police report.
Singleton was initially charged with first-degree battery and false imprisonment for keeping Clayton in the home for about an hour before taking him to Baptist Medical Health Center in Malvern when he was in critical condition, the report said.
Singleton is now charged with second-degree murder, as is Stephanie Jones, who police say was at the scene of the attack.
Jones, 32, was initially arrested on an accomplice charge, as well as counts of tampering with evidence and obstruction of governmental operations after police found her statement did not match the video of the assault and that Clayton's blood seemed to have been washed off her front porch, the report said.
Singleton escaped from the Hot Spring County jail after overpowering a jailer around noon on Dec. 3. He was recaptured Dec. 7 in Malvern and is being held without bail. He is also accused of violating parole.
Jones was previously out on bail but has since been taken back into custody. She is being held in lieu of $25,000 bond.
