CONWAY — Prosecutors said Tuesday they have formally charged two teenagers with capital murder, kidnapping and other offenses in the July slaying of a central Arkansas woman.
Robert Lee Smith III, 16, and Tacori D. Mackrel, 19, both of Pine Bluff, also are charged with theft of property and aggravated robbery in the death of Elvia Fragstein, 72, who had been on a shopping trip July 7 at TJ Maxx in Conway just before she disappeared.
Authorities have said Fragstein, a Wooster resident, died from strangulation and blunt-force trauma to the head and spine. Her body was found on a rural road near Pine Bluff.
At a hearing Tuesday afternoon in Faulkner County Circuit Court, the teenagers pleaded not guilty. The suspects are jailed in Conway without bail.
A newly released affidavit states one of the two teens implicated a third person — an unidentified Caucasian male — but police found no evidence to corroborate the suspect’s account.
In the document, Faulkner County sheriff’s investigator Andy Cook notes at one point that, while discussing possible motives, he “learned of a gang called ‘MG’ (murder gang) out of the Pine Bluff area.”
The affidavit never states if the two suspects belonged to the gang. Chief Deputy Prosecutor Carol Crews declined to elaborate on the gang reference during a news conference Tuesday.
Arkansas law provides that capital murder be punished by death or life in prison without parole. Chief Deputy Prosecutor Carol Crews said Tuesday that there has not been a decision yet on whether to seek the death penalty for Mackrel if he is convicted. The state cannot seek the death penalty for Smith since he was younger than 18 at the time of the crime.
Court documents spelled Mackrel’s name with one l. Police news releases have previously spelled it with two l’s.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
