A man arrested Friday in a fatal shooting in Pope County had been committed for psychiatric and drug treatment in Little Rock last month after overdosing on methamphetamine and swallowing drain cleaner, according to court documents.
A judge in Russellville set bail at $250,000 for Nathaniel Z. Symonds, 19, of Dover at a probable cause hearing Monday. Symonds was being held in the Pope County jail on a charge of first-degree murder.
Symonds is accused of shooting Ronald Dean Esserman Jr., 42, of Dover with a shotgun Friday afternoon on Oak Meadows Road in Dover, about 10 miles north of Russellville.
A probable cause statement by Pope County sheriff's office Lt. Jacob Yarbrough said officers were called to 245 Oak Meadows Road, where they found Esserman dead of apparent gunshot wounds in the front yard of a mobile home. Symonds was found in a home down the street and arrested.
According to the statement, Symonds told investigators that Esserman attacked him, hitting and kicking him until Symonds was able to get away.
Symonds went to his grandfather's home about 100 yards away and got a shotgun, the statement said. He walked back toward the mobile home and fired a warning shot in the air. Symonds told deputies that he encountered Esserman in the front yard of the mobile home and shot him.
"He said the victim fell to the ground and exclaimed 'I'm gonna die.' [Symonds] said the victim began to crawl away from him and [Symonds] shot him several more times. [Symonds] said he then walked up to the victim and shot him in the head," Yarbrough's statement said.
Prosecuting Attorney David Gibbons said he believed formal charges would be filed against Symonds in two or three weeks.
Records show that a petition was filed Feb. 8 in Pulaski County Circuit Court to involuntarily admit Symonds to CHI St. Vincent Infirmary's Behavioral Health Unit.
The petition said Symonds, whose address was listed as 249 Oak Meadows Road in Dover, was admitted to the Little Rock hospital on Jan. 31 on a 72-hour hold. The petition said he overdosed on methamphetamine and ingested Drano that caused "severe mouth and upper airways burns."
He had to be intubated and put on a breathing machine in intensive care before being admitted for psychiatric treatment, according to the petition.
He signed a voluntary commitment Feb. 1 but had to be placed on a 72-hour hold Feb. 6 "because he wished to leave in the face of persisting suicidal thoughts," the petition said.
The petition said he had a history of post-traumatic stress disorder related to childhood sexual abuse, methamphetamine addiction, and depressive disorder with past suicide attempts.
Circuit Judge Morgan Welch ordered on Feb. 10 that Symonds be held for inpatient treatment at CHI St. Vincent for no more than 45 days. The records in the court file didn't show when Symonds was released.
NW News on 03/21/2017