HOT SPRINGS -- A Fouke man arrested last year after, police said, he shot a 4-year-old boy in the foot with a stolen gun and tried to cover it up, pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges Tuesday in Garland County Circuit Court.
Noah Michael Veuthey, 19, pleaded guilty to felony counts of second-degree battery and theft by receiving of a firearm and a misdemeanor count of tampering with physical evidence and was sentenced to six years in prison, with the entire sentence suspended and 120 days in the Garland County jail on each felony count, to run concurrently, fined a total of $3,000 and ordered to pay $590 in court costs and fees.
According to the probable cause affidavits, a residential burglary was reported Oct. 8, 2017, on Carl Finch Road where a back door was forced open and about 13 firearms were stolen, including a Beretta .40-caliber handgun.
On Oct. 14, 2017, Garland County sheriff's investigators responded to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs regarding a 4-year-old boy with a gunshot wound in his right foot.
An investigation determined the injury occurred at the residence of Sherri Young Seger, 54, at 347 Little Mazarn Road, who gave consent to search her home while she was interviewed at the sheriff's office.
Seger told investigators she, another woman and the victim were alone in the house with the victim sleeping in her room. She claimed she had a gun beside her because she feared the "Mexican Mafia" was coming to collect money and she awoke at one point to the sound of a gunshot and saw the victim bleeding.
Investigators learned later that Veuthey was inside the residence at the time of the shooting. On Oct. 16, deputies interviewed Veuthey, who stated he was in possession of a Beretta .40-caliber handgun and was leaning over the bed when it accidentally discharged and hit the victim, who was sleeping on the floor next to the bed.
He said he placed a 9mm handgun on the bed and a spent 9mm shell casing on the floor "as to indicate that it was the weapon that fired the round that hit the juvenile," and then left the residence with the Beretta.
That same day, Veuthey gave consent for the search of a vehicle he was driving, and investigator Jennifer Tonseth recovered the Beretta from the trunk. An initial check on the gun came back clear, but on Nov. 8 the burglary victim provided investigators with a list of all the firearms taken and their serial numbers, and it was determined the Beretta was one of the stolen guns.
Veuthey was arrested on the battery and tampering charges Oct. 16 and released the next day on $5,000 bond.
On Jan. 9, Seger was charged with a misdemeanor count of hindering apprehension or prosecution for her part in covering up what happened. She pleaded no contest to the charge July 26 and was sentenced to one year in jail with the entire sentence suspended, nine months' probation and was ordered to pay $640 in court costs.
Veuthey was charged Feb. 1 with the additional felony count of theft by receiving of a firearm in connection to the stolen Beretta and was released on $2,500 bond that same day.
State Desk on 08/19/2018