Judge acquits central Arkansas restaurant owner of 1 murder charge

Quenton Edward King
Quenton Edward King

6 P.M. UPDATE:

A Pulaski County circuit court judge has acquitted a central Arkansas restaurateur of one of the murder charges he faced in the killing of his pregnant mistress.

On the second day of 38-year-old Quenton King's trial, Circuit Judge Herb Wright said he agreed with defense arguments that prosecutors had not proved the unborn child was alive when Megan Price, 36, was fatally shot in June 2015.

Price's sister had testified earlier Tuesday that she was eight months pregnant when she was slain.

King, who co-owns Chicken King restaurants in North Little Rock and Little Rock with his wife of more than 15 years, still faces one capital murder charge when the trial resumes Thursday.

Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

— John Lynch

3:50 P.M. UPDATE:

A friend who grew up with a central Arkansas restaurateur charged with murder testified on the second day of his trial that he told him about killing his pregnant mistress.

David Kincade, 43, said Wednesday that he grew up with Quenton King in Eudora, a small town where “everybody knows everybody.”

Kincade said King had at one point lived with him after the two moved to Little Rock, but they saw each other less by 2015.

Still, Kincade went to see King in the hospital when he sustained life-threatening gunshot wounds in March of that year.

He said King had been emotional and “made promises” to change his lifestyle, telling Kincade he hadn’t prayed in several years.

Then in June 2015, on the Sunday that King’s mistress, Megan Price, was found dead, Kincade saw King at a barbecue back in Eudora, according to his testimony.

Kincade said King seemed had mostly recovered from his injuries, except for a brace on one hand. He seemed to be running around enjoying himself, Kincade said, being his “laughing and giggly” self until a conversation with his wife, Jamie King.

Kincade said he saw King become agitated, and when they went for a walk, King told him about how he killed his mistress.

Kincade testified that King told him that he had shot Price twice — once in the head and once in the stomach. Photographs shown to the jury Tuesday showed Price with three gunshot wounds to her head.

A North Little Rock police detective also testified, going over what Kincade had told him that warranted a search of King’s home.

— Rachel Herzog

EARLIER:

The second day of Chicken King co-owner Quenton King’s murder trial began Wednesday morning with testimony from his slain mistress’ sister.

King faces two counts of capital murder in the killing of 36-year-old Megan Price, who was found dead June 28, 2015. Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence.

Price’s sister, Vallon Williams, told the Pulaski County jury that she knew of the 14-year relationship Price had with King but did not know him personally.

Their relationship would not have been described as public, Williams told jurors.

Williams acknowledged in her testimony that, despite her opposition, Price had posted about being pregnant King’s child to Facebook.

Price, the sister testified, was eight months pregnant and had a due date of Aug. 12, 2015.

The post, which was later deleted, read in part: “I couldn’t think of a better father. Fourteen years and still going strong.”

Williams said she had last spoken to Price the night of June 26, 2015, when storms knocked out power in North Little Rock. The conversation prompted Price to gather supplies to tide her over until the electricity came back on, the witness said.

The sister said King had been set to stay with Price over the weekend, with their plans to tentatively begin that night.

When Williams drove by Price’s residence Saturday, her vehicle was parked outside the electric garage, which she believed was the result of the power failure. Nothing seemed else out of the ordinary, she testified.

Three other people took the stand Wednesday morning, including an employee of North Little Rock Electric, who outlined the power outage at Price’s home as being between 6:03 p.m. and 11:22 p.m. June 26, 2015.

An employee with Sprint, Price’s cellphone service provider, testified that the last known communication from her was around 10:20 p.m. that day. Later incoming attempts to reach her would go directly to voicemail because of either a failure to connect with the network or the power to her device being turned off, the worker said.

King co-owns Chicken King restaurants in North Little Rock and Little Rock with his wife of more than 15 years.

—Brandon Riddle

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