TEXARKANA, Ark. -- A Tennessee woman charged with capital murder in the September shooting death of a Texarkana man will not face the death penalty if convicted, a Miller County prosecutor announced Tuesday.
Starlar Brown, 29, appeared Tuesday morning for arraignment before Circuit Judge Wren Autrey, who was standing in for Circuit Judge Carlton Jones. Assistant Public Defender Matt Stephens entered a plea of not guilty on Starlar Brown's behalf to the capital murder charge she is facing in the Sept. 20 death of 40-year-old Keith McFadden.
Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Connie Mitchell said at the hearing that the state is waiving the death penalty in Starlar Brown's case. The only other punishment than death for capital murder in Arkansas is life without the possibility of parole.
Mitchell said the state has not made an announcement regarding the death penalty in the capital murder case of Starlar Brown's husband and co-defendant, Cornell Brown.
Texarkana lawyer John Pickett entered a plea of not guilty on Cornell Brown's behalf at a hearing before Autrey in February.
Officials have been quiet on a clear motive in McFadden's death, though criminal informations charging the husband and wife from Tennessee give two alternatives: a fatal shooting in the course of an aggravated robbery or premeditated, deliberate murder.
McFadden, of Texarkana, Texas, was found suffering from a gunshot wound in a yard on East 11th Street in Texarkana, Arkansas, and died shortly after he was discovered, according to earlier reports. Emergency calls regarding gunfire in the area of East 11th and California streets were received shortly before 9 p.m. Sept. 20 and brought Texarkana, Arkansas, police to the scene.
A warrant was issued for Cornell Brown in early October.
The U.S. Marshals West Arkansas Task Force developed information that Cornell Brown was in Memphis, Tennessee, and contacted a U.S. Marshals task force in that area for assistance, according to a press release dated Oct. 26. Cornell Brown was arrested Oct. 20 on the Miller County warrant by the Two Rivers Violent Fugitive Task Force at a residence on Double Tree Street in Memphis.
Jail records show Cornell Brown was booked into the Miller County jail Nov. 30 and that Starlar Brown was arrested Feb. 2.
Both defendants are scheduled to return to court for pretrial hearings in May. Cornell Brown and Starlar Brown are being held without bond in the Miller County jail.