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 Price 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.
The second day of 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.
She acknowledged in her testimony that, despite her opposition, Price had posted on Facebook about being pregnant with King's child. The post, which was later deleted, read in part: "I couldn't think of a better father. Fourteen years and still going strong."
Price, the sister testified, was eight months pregnant and had a due date of Aug. 12, 2015.
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 tentatively to 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 else seemed 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.