A first-degree murder charge was filed Tuesday against Johnny Wayne Harderson, 44, of Clarksville in connection with the Dec. 4 death of Chasity Bond, 37, in Newton County.
According to an affidavit filed in Newton County Circuit Court, Harderson told police he and Bond had been in a relationship for about three months.
Harderson told police the couple were driving through Newton County when they decided to stop at the home of his sister, Sonya Rigsby.
Although nobody was home, Harderson decided to change the brakes on a green Chevrolet Cavalier in the dirt driveway in front of his sister's home, according to the affidavit from David Small, a special agent with the Arkansas State Police.
"According to Harderson, it was dark, he was using a flashlight, and he jacked up the vehicle, removed the right (passenger side) front tire and went inside the residence," the affidavit said. "Harderson said when he returned, Bond was under the right front of the vehicle, face down, and the vehicle had fallen off the jack and was lying on her head."
Harderson told police he removed the vehicle, replaced the wheel and drove Bond in the Cavalier to the nearby home of another one of his sisters, Dicie Arvell Becker, who lives near the Edwards Junction community, according to the affidavit.
Becker called 911 at 10:07 p.m. Dec. 4. She and Harderson drove Bond to Johnson Regional Medical Center in Clarksville, where a doctor pronounced her dead at 11:07 p.m., according to the affidavit.
On Dec. 7, Dr. Stephen Erickson, a medical examiner with the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock, ruled the death a homicide.
"Dr. Erickson said the cause of death to Chasity Bond was strangulation and blunt force facial injuries," according to the affidavit.
Bond suffered a broken nose, which should have caused considerable bleeding, but there was no blood or dirt on her clothes, the affidavit said.
Police also found no evidence in the driveway of a jack being used to elevate the front end of a car, according to the affidavit.
In addition to first-degree murder, Harderson also was charged with aggravated assault. He is scheduled to be arraigned today, said David Ethredge, prosecutor for Arkansas' 14th Judicial Circuit.
Harderson has been in the Newton County jail in Jasper since Dec. 8. His bail was set at $300,000.
Chasity (White) Bond was from Springfield, Mo., according to an obituary in the Springfield News-Leader.
Metro on 01/13/2017