BENTONVILLE — An Arkansas woman accused of killing her grandmother pleaded not guilty Monday to capital murder and tampering with evidence.
Andrea Lea Wilson, who remains in custody in the Benton County jail in lieu of $750,000 bond, made a brief court appearance before Circuit Judge Robin Green and entered her not guilty pleas to the two felony charges. Her case is set for another hearing July 16.
The 26-year-old Bentonville woman is accused in the slaying of 81-year-old Ruby Ross.
Ross was found dead May 16 in her Pea Ridge home. Wilson is accused of hitting her grandmother at least four times on the head with a hammer, according to court documents.
Wilson could be sentenced to life imprisonment without the benefit of parole or sentenced to death if she's convicted of capital murder. Prosecutors haven't announced if they will seek the death penalty.
She could be sentenced to up to six years in prison if convicted of the tampering charge.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, detectives with the Benton County sheriff's office found a bloody hammer with white hair in an outhouse behind Ross' house. The hammer was in a black plastic trash bag with rubber gloves with blood on them, a large butcher-type knife and bank statements with Andrea Wilson's name on them.
Leann Ross said she went to her mother's home May 16 and found Ruby Ross in bed with blood spatter on the headboard. Leann Ross said her niece was at her mother's home that day and may have been the last person to see her alive, according to the police report.
