FAYETTEVILLE -- A Springdale woman pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a murder charge related to a fatal stabbing.
Shawnalyn Lang, 33, is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the May 28 death of Richard Dill.
Lang was given an initial court date of Jan. 5 before Washington County Circuit Court Judge Mark Lindsay.
Fayetteville police were called to 261 S. Lewis Ave., No. 2, on May 30 on a report of a death. Friends of Dill told police they hadn't heard from him for some time and went to the apartment to check on him.
Police found Dill's body in the doorway of a bedroom, according to the affidavit for an arrest warrant filed in circuit court. The body had blood on the left hand, blood smeared around the left side of his torso and stomach and a small cut in the center of his chest. A puncture wound was found on Dill's left side with a large amount of blood having pooled on the floor near the body.
In the bathroom of the apartment, investigators found a steak knife in the toilet and a towel with what appeared to be dried blood on it, according to the affidavit.
A report from the state Medical Examiner's Office said the death was a homicide caused by the stab wound to the chest. The blade was found to have gone between the ribs, behind a lung and into Dill's heart.
Police were told Lang had been staying at the apartment while she was separated from a boyfriend, according to the affidavit.
Investigators found Lang had purchased a ride from an online taxi service with her debit card and contacted the driver, who told police he had taken Lang to the Quality Inn at 1000 S. Futrall Drive in Fayetteville on May 29. The driver reportedly told police Lang had asked him, "If you stab someone in between the ribs will they die?"
Lang fled the area after the stabbing, taking a bus to Texarkana, then to Dallas and then on to Houston. Fayetteville detectives and U.S. Marshals arrested Lang on June 14 in Houston. She was returned to Arkansas to face charges.
If convicted, Lang faces 10 to 40 years or life in prison.