ASHDOWN, Ark. -- A Little River County man has been found not guilty of second-degree murder in an October 2020 shooting.
The verdict for Corey Tyrell Garfield was handed down May 31 in Little River County Circuit Court, according to documents.
Garfield's attorney Clayton Tinkes said bullet trajectory and lack of solid evidence connecting Garfield to the crime led to the jury's decision.
Police were called the night of October 6, 2020, to a house in the 600 block of Byrne Street in reference to a man lying in the yard. Dennis Graves, 48, was discovered lying face down and suffering from a gunshot wound to his left chest. The bullet appeared to have passed through his lungs and exited on the right side of his chest, according to court documents.
As the investigation proceeded, investigators determined Garfield allegedly held Graves responsible for the loss of an ounce of methamphetamine. The drugs were found on the ground and had been urinated on, according to court documents.
Garfield and Graves had been drinking together earlier in the day, records show.
Garfield and his girlfriend, Chekala Nicole Johnson, were arrested Nov. 23, 2020, in Little Rock. They had previously been staying in an Ashdown motel. Johnson was charged with evidence tampering for allegedly disposing of the murder weapon, which was never recovered.
Tinkes said there was never enough evidence to prove Garfield was the shooter and that there were too many discrepancies in witness statements.
"That's what I was trying to prove and the jury agreed," he said.