Counterfeit cash and a drug deal were at the center of a Jonesboro homicide last month in which three men have been arrested, according to court documents.
Police responded around 11:15 p.m. Nov. 30 to a report of a burglary in the 3100 block of Parkwood Road. Officers found 24-year-old Andrew Powell dead inside with multiple gunshot wounds.
Investigators picked up Powell’s cellphone outside, according to a probable cause affidavit, and found a text conversation on it involving someone named “Wesley.”
The phone led officers to a home, where police met 23-year-old Wesley Neal and two others who were ultimately not charged in the case.
The two others told police the phone was in Neal’s possession at the time of the homicide and that they “could place Wesley Neal inside the residence where the victim was murdered,” according to the affidavit. The document didn't detail when he was there.
Neal told police in an interview he was friends with Powell and has past “dealings” with him, the affidavit said. He admitted to providing phone information of Powell for a “meeting which ultimately lead to his death,” the document added, noting he also “admitted to being inside the home where Powell’s body was found.”
Kyron Stegall, 22, was also identified as a suspect. He told police he was part of planning and carrying out a drug deal between himself, Neal and another person, according to a second probable cause affidavit. Police found Stegall in possession of “a large amount of counterfeit money,” according to that affidavit. Police wrote that the fake money was part of the drug deal that ultimately led to Powell’s death.
A third suspect, Jacolby Haggard, 27, has also been arrested in the case. A probable cause affidavit for him was not yet available on Thursday afternoon, according to Jonesboro police spokeswoman Sally Smith. He was arrested Monday in Memphis.
Neal and Stegall each face one count of first-degree murder. They are being held in the Craighead County jail in lieu of $1 million bond each.