CAMDEN -- A Fordyce resident will retain public defenders in an upcoming murder trial, according to documents from Dallas County District Court.
Raheem Stuckey will be represented by Patrick Benca and Jessica Duncan Johnston of the law firm Benca & Johnston.
Information from Dallas County Circuit Court shows that Stuckey, 18, of Fordyce, and Khalili Tre'Von Gallaway, 19, also of Fordyce, are both charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery in the death of 18-year-old Jesse Turner, who was also of Fordyce.
In January, the state waived the death penalty.
Paul Marques Cross, 31, has been charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, tampering with physical evidence and possession of firearms by certain persons in connection with the case, according to court documents.
All three men are being held without bail.
Cross has said his constitutional rights were violated during the search of his home and his subsequent interrogation. The state denies these allegations.
A probable-cause affidavit stated that on May 23, 2018, officers of the Fordyce Police Department and special agents from the Arkansas State Police arrested Stuckey and Gallaway in Turner's slaying. At that time, both were charged with one count of first-degree murder and with arson, according to a news release from the law enforcement agencies.
Cross was arrested on May 24, 2018.
A probable-cause affidavit stated that on May 23, 2018, Fordyce officer John Cutrell was dispatched to a car fire behind Higher Heights Apartments on Kingsland Road in Fordyce. The vehicle was a loss and found to be registered to John Turner of Fordyce.
The Fordyce Police Department received a call about a body in some woods on Cleveland Street in Fordyce directly behind a vacant house. An officer identified the body as Turner.
"During a search of the two crime scenes, a large blood trail was found from Turner's body to the vacant house where the burned vehicle was located," according to the affidavit.
The affidavit stated that Turner had been shot in his mid-thigh region, that evidence showed that he had died several hours before the burned vehicle was found, and that a .40-caliber shell casing was found under the vehicle.
During interviews, authorities said they learned that Turner was last seen with Stuckey and Gallaway at the Delco Apartments in Fordyce on the night of the killing, the affidavit stated. It also shows that:
"According to one interview, Turner wanted to join the Crips gang and was beat up earlier in the night at Paul Cross' house."
Reportedly, Cross later told law enforcement agents that Stuckey and Turner arrived at Cross' house earlier that day and that "Turner had a .40-caliber pistol in his pants."
On May 24, deputies from the Ouachita County sheriff's office found Stuckey and Gallaway walking near Mount Holly Road and Goodgame Street in Camden and asked them where they were going, according to the affidavit.
They reportedly stated that they "heard someone was killed in Fordyce and they were being accused of it. They said they were headed to the police department to talk about it."
They were taken to the Fordyce Police Department for the interview at the request of law enforcement agents.
A family member of one of the suspects was interviewed and she reportedly stated that at some point, she took Gallaway and Stuckey to Hibbett Sports to buy new shoes and pants and to Walmart to buy underwear. The clerk at Hibbett's reported that the men had a large roll of money and they both paid for the items with $100 bills, the probable-cause document states.
In Cross' interview, he reportedly stated that Gallaway and Stuckey arrived at his home early in the morning and "told him they had just killed Jesse Turner," according to the affidavit. Cross said the pair had "a large sum of money they took from Turner and counted it on the floor," and that "Gallaway had blood on his boxer shorts."
The men also reportedly placed a gun in a backpack. At the men's request, Cross drove them to a relative's home in Camden but "stopped between Bearden and Camden for Gallaway to hide the backpack in some woods in the median. Agents found the backpack in that area and it contained Turner's driver's license," according to the probable-cause report.
A silver .380-caliber pistol was also near the backpack, the report stated.
The affidavit also stated: "It is believed that Stuckey and Gallaway robbed Turner and later had his vehicle burned to destroy any evidence at the scene."
Metro on 06/13/2019