BENTONVILLE — A Pea Ridge man testified it felt like an eternity but was only a few seconds as he knelt and prayed over a dying Kevin Apple.
Tony Young was a witness Tuesday morning at Shawna Cash’s capital murder trial. He was on the scene and witnessed Apple, a Pea Ridge police officer, being dragged to death by a fleeing vehicle.
Apple and Brian Stamps, a then-Pea Ridge police officer, heard a dispatch about 11:30 a.m. June 26, 2021, to be on the lookout for a Jeep fleeing from Rogers police. They spotted the Jeep at the White Oak Station in Pea Ridge, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Elijah Andazola, 20, was a passenger in the Jeep.
Stamps stopped his patrol car in back of the Jeep, and Apple stopped his car in front of the Jeep.
Young testified he was going to get a drink from the store that morning when he saw the police cars blocking in the Jeep. He told jurors he saw the Jeep ram into Stamps’ car, then heard the officers yelling for the person to stop.
The officers had their guns out, and Young said he saw Apple in front of the Jeep, telling the driver to stop and not to do anything.
“A few seconds later the Jeep took off like a dart,” Young said. “It was really quick.”
He said when the Jeep hit the curb, Apple’s body was dislodged from under the vehicle.
Young said he remembers hearing gunshots and then running behind Stamps as he went to Apple’s aid.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do,” Young said. “You got to help.”
Young said he remembers the look of terror, fear and uncertainty on Stamps’ face. Young said he kneeled down to Apple and started praying for him. He said he saw Apple’s injuries and it was apparent there wasn’t much time left for him.
“The only thing I could do is pray in the name of Jesus for him,” Young said.
He told jurors another woman came and took one of Apple’s hands and told him he’s not alone.
“Thank God she was there,” Young said.
Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Robinson asked Young about the time frame.
“It almost seemed like an eternity, but it was only a few seconds,” Young replied.
Witness followed Cash
The jury heard from a second witness who saw the incident at the White Oak Station, but Jerry Everhart also followed the Jeep, called 911 and provided the directions of the fleeing vehicle.
Prosecutors played the 911 call.
Everhart testified he saw the passenger in the Jeep raise his hands before the vehicle dragged Apple. He said he saw Apple’s body dislodged from underneath the vehicle. He said the Jeep never slowed down.
Everhart was with his father and two daughters, and he decided to try following the Jeep. He ended his pursuit after a dispatcher advised him to do so, saying officers were in the area.
Prosecutors showed videos of the incident at the convenience store. Prosecutors also played a second 911 call of another person following the Jeep and providing the directions in which it was traveling.
The jury also watched a video of Michael Braswell, a detective with the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, questioning Cash.
“I told you I kept going,” Cash replied after Braswell asked her about what happened after she hit Apple.
Cash did not yet know Apple was dead. She told Braswell she felt bad and hoped Apple was OK.
Braswell delivered the news several moments later about Apple’s death.
“If I did, I will do anything I can to fix it,” Cash told Braswell.
“It’s nothing you can do; he’s dead,” Braswell said.
“Are you serious?” Cash replied.
“One hundred percent,” Braswell said.
Cash quietly mumbled a few things and then asked, “He’s dead?”
“One hundred percent,” Braswell said again.
Cash repeatedly denied intentionally hitting Apple. “My agenda was to get gone,” she said.
She also seemed to place the blame on Andazola because he yelled for her to go and he should have understood how she would react. Cash repeatedly denied intentionally hitting Apple.
Braswell told Cash she was going to be arrested for capital murder, and Cash said she would fight the charge. She then yelled and cursed at Braswell that she didn’t know Apple he was in front of the car.
Lee Short, one of Cash’s attorneys, asked if his client had repeatedly denied hitting Apple. Braswell agreed Cash had made the denials.
Braswell agreed with Short that Cash said in the interview she freaks out after hearing loud noises and sometimes blacks out.
Chase and arrest
The jury saw another video when Cpl. John Hearron testified about the pursuit that led to Cash’s arrest. Hearron chased after the blue Jeep that Cash was driving.
The chase ended when Cash crashed into a tree. She and Andazola ran away from the scene, and Hearron testified he captured Cash running in the woods. Hearron said he decided to chase Cash because she was the driver of the Jeep.
Andazola was arrested later.
The jury also watched a video of a purple-haired and handcuffed Cash in the back of Hearron’s patrol vehicle. She repeatedly cried out that she loved Andazola.
Dr. Charles Kokes, an associate medical examiner for the Arkansas Crime Laboratory, testified Apple’s death was the result of multiple injuries. He described the numerous injuries Apple suffered as jurors saw photographs of Apple’s body.
Kokes said Apple’s death was the result of the rib fractures that caused the collapse of both of Apple’s lungs. He said Apple was not able to get any oxygen into his body and he could only live minutes with those injuries.
The initial impact with the Jeep did not cause Apple’s fatal injuries, he said.
Jail calls
Prosecutors ended their case by playing the jury five recordings of phone conversations a jailed Cash had with people. She specifically said in a few of the calls she did not intend to hit Apple.
However, during two of the calls she seemed to blame Apple for her hitting him with the Jeep.
She was telling someone in the fourth recording one of her attorneys told her she had seen a video of the incident and described the the crime as capital murder. Cash told the person she should be charged with negligent homicide.
She also criticized Apple in the recording.
“He was doing exactly what he was trained not to do,” Cash tells the person about Apple standing in front of her vehicle. She added Apple did not have his patrol vehicle’s lights on.
Cash made a similar claim in the fifth call.
“If I’m a cop standing in front of a revving engine I’m getting out of the way and not standing in front of the vehicle,” she said.
The woman Cash is talking with begins to laugh. Cash tells her Apple didn’t have his patrol car’s lights on and he technically did not stop her. The woman laughs some more.
Prosecutors rested their case after playing the recordings.
The trial will resume this morning.
Andazola of Bentonville is charged with accomplice to capital murder and escape. Prosecutors have waived the death penalty in his case. Andazola’s jury trial is scheduled to begin March 5 in Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green’s courtroom.