A Nicaraguan man first lied to Little Rock police officers, then admitted to shooting his girlfriend early Sunday morning but insisted the gunshot was an accident, according to court records.
Juan Montalba, 25, was arrested and charged with first-degree domestic battery Sunday morning. He was booked in at the Pulaski County jail after officers found him yelling in the middle of Stanton Road while his girlfriend sat in a car in a parking lot with a gunshot wound to the head.
Montalba made his initial court appearance in Little Rock District Court on Monday morning and pleaded innocent to the Class B felony, one punishable by up to 20 years in prison. His bail was set at $2.5 million.
Montalba’s girlfriend, Lewan Arana, 24, of Little Rock remained in critical condition at a local hospital and was on life support, a police spokesman said.
Officers went to 8485 Stanton Road for an “unknown trouble” call about 3 a.m. and found Montalba, who ran at the officers’ car. He was nearly struck and was acting hysterical and screaming, according to reports.
Montalba then showed officers to the parking lot and opened the door of a 2013 rental Toyota Camry. Officers saw a woman’s body slumped over the floorboard, reports state.
According to officers, Montalba “grabbed onto” Arana and “would not let go” and had to be handcuffed until officers found out what happened.
According to detectives, Montalba told officers that two Hispanic men shot his girlfriend, but they doubted the story after examining the “blood spatter” on the interior of the vehicle as well as the blood pooled on the passenger and driver’s seats.
Detectives said they thought Arana was shot by someone inside the car, according to the court records, and officers took Montalba downtown for further questioning.
He agreed to give a statement and then admitted to shooting his girlfriend in the head, reports state, saying that “he accidentally shot [her] when he began poking her with a pistol.”
A search of Circuit Court records showed no prior records for Montalba. Detectives said in the court records that he is in the United States illegally.
Arkansas, Pages 18 on 04/15/2014