2 women get bail in central Arkansas stabbing; male roommate a threat, they said

Two Sherwood women accused of attacking a male roommate had their bail set at $10,000 after their attorney argued they were forced into defending themselves from the man.

Kiara Gilbert, 24, and Beatrice Rayjean Hadley, 21, have been held 2 ½ months without bail after their Jan. 13 arrests by Sherwood police over allegations that Gilbert repeatedly stabbed 21-year-old Isaiah Melech Nelson in the back and that Hadley tried to shoot him during a New Year's Day fight at the Park Crest Apartments, 110 Manson Road. The women were still jailed Wednesday afternoon.

Testifying at Tuesday's bond hearing, Sherwood detective Timothy Norvell said police were called to the hospital just before 7 p.m. on Jan. 1 where Nelson was being treated for his wounds.

Nelson said he'd been arguing with the women when the confrontation turned physical, the detective told Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza.

Nelson told police that he and his girlfriend had retreated to his bedroom, but the women tried to force their way in, with Hadley reaching through the doorway to strike him.

The detective said Nelson pushed the women away and left the room during the confrontation when his girlfriend told him he'd been stabbed by Gilbert, who was behind him.

Nelson said he turned back to confront her, then saw Hadley point a pistol at him. Nelson said he heard the gun "click" three times, Norvell told the judge.

Police documented a series of "reddish brown" droplets throughout the apartment. In the women's room, investigators found a kitchen knife that appeared to have blood on it, and two pistols were found in a closet, a loaded revolver and a 9mm semi-automatic holding one round.

Norvell said one bullet in the revolver was marked as if it had been struck by the pistol hammer.

The apparent blood spatter shows that Nelson was inside the women's room when he was stabbed, defense attorney Bill James said, pointing out that both women told police that they feared Nelson was trying to push Hadley out of a bedroom window.

Neither woman has any prior convictions, although court records show Hadley was arrested on drug trafficking charges with a man described by authorities as a "known drug dealer" in December 2014.

Court records show North Little Rock police stopped the car Hadley was riding in after seeing her and the driver, Michael Lawrence Scales, leaving a "known drug house."

Police found a small plastic bag of crack cocaine in the center cup holder while two "rocks" of crack were discovered in the passenger door next to where Hadley had been sitting. Scales, who was on parole for drug convictions, tried to eat some of the cocaine but was stopped by police.

The charges against Hadley were dropped after Scales, 39, pleaded guilty to charges of drug possession and evidence tampering in exchange for a three-year prison sentence in March 2015.

Nelson also has been in trouble with the law, court filings show. In September 2016, he was placed on probation for five years after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor terroristic threatening charge, reduced from a felony, and felony residential burglary.

The misdemeanor charge was for threatening to kill his brother, Darius Dawan Nelson, 23, with a box cutter during a fight at the North Little Rock family home, 4511 Greenway Drive. Darius Nelson told police the altercation turned physical after he intervened between Nelson and their mother, Alicia Nelson, during an argument.

The burglary conviction was for the Dec. 4, 2015, break-in at the Jacksonville home of Helen Boje, 227 N. Bailey.

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Metro on 03/29/2018

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