Trial begins for restaurateur accused of killing pregnant mistress in North Little Rock

North Little Rock restaurateur Quenton King, 38, (left) walks out of court Wednesday, July 5, 2017, after appearing before Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herbert Wright.
North Little Rock restaurateur Quenton King, 38, (left) walks out of court Wednesday, July 5, 2017, after appearing before Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herbert Wright.

Only the questionable claims of an acquaintance of restaurateur Quenton King link him to the June 2015 slaying of the pregnant North Little Rock mother of two who prosecutors say was his longtime mistress, King's lawyer told a Pulaski County jury on Tuesday.

Prosecutors have no DNA or fingerprints to link King to the killing of 36-year-old Megan Price, defense attorney Ron Davis said in opening statements at King's capital murder trial.

He emphasized that lack of physical evidence while questioning police witnesses, suggesting that detectives had overlooked what could have been a crucial piece of DNA evidence -- a cup with a drinking straw found beside Price's bed and close to her body -- that was not examined for genetic material.

Proceedings before Circuit Judge Herb Wright resume at 9:30 this morning. With 17 prosecution witnesses, the trial is expected to last at least through Thursday.

The murder case rests almost entirely on the testimony of 43-year-old David Kincade, whose description of how Price was fatally shot in the head and stomach -- an account he claims came directly from King -- does not match how the woman was really killed, Davis said.

Police can't even be certain when Price was killed, Davis told jurors, predicting they will come to exonerate King at trial's end.

Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for the 38-year-old King, who owns the Chicken King restaurants in Little Rock, North Little Rock and Conway with his wife of 17 years. Arrested about two weeks after Price's body was found, the father of two has been jailed ever since awaiting trial.

Price, 36, died from three gunshots to her head. She was found naked in her bedroom two days after she told friends and family that King was coming over to spend a romantic weekend.

Two of the fatal gunshots were fired into her face, inflicted at such close range that the gunpowder burned her skin. The third shot came from a gun that must have been pressed to the top of her head, judging from the ragged star-shaped wound. Her unborn daughter, a month away from full term, was dead inside her. Price had planned to name the girl Keela.

"Clearly, whoever shot her wanted her dead," deputy prosecutor Jeanna Sherrill told jurors in her opening remarks.

Sherrill said Price was killed because she'd announced on Facebook just before her death that King, her on-again, off-again boyfriend of 14 years, was the father of that baby.

King had a lot to lose from that claim, Sherrill told jurors. She said that while Price was planning a romantic weekend with him, King had more sinister intentions. She said King killed Price to keep his wife from finding out about them.

"His plan was not to lose his wife ... and losing everything," Sherrill said.

The Facebook announcement disappeared that same weekend, the prosecutor said. There was no sign of a break-in at the home and nothing was stolen, including money that had been lying out, Sherrill said. Price's TVs, computer and car were left undisturbed, Sherrill said.

The only things missing from Price's home were her house key and her cellphone, Sherrill said. Price used her phone to post on Facebook and had told her daughter she was leaving her house key out for King, the prosecutor said.

After killing Price, King drove to his hometown of Eudora, Sherrill said. But he had not counted on police linking him to the slaying shortly after Price's body was found, she told jurors.

A phone call from North Little Rock investigators led to King confessing to killing Price to his friend, Kincade, she said.

Disturbed by King's description of how he set Price up to be killed, Kincade went to police, telling detectives how King had used Price's phone after killing her to delete the Facebook post then disposed of both phone and gun, Sherrill said.

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Metro on 10/18/2017

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