Man Accused Of Killing Ex-Girlfriend Denied Bond

A Berryville man accused of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend while their 5-month-old child looked on was denied bond Wednesday.

Victor Acuna-Sanchez, 18, was denied bond by Berryville District Judge Scott Jackson and remains in the Carroll County Detention Center.

Acuna-Sanchez was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of capital murder. He had been in jail on suspicion of criminal mischief ever since Laura Aceves, 21, was found shot in the head in her Eureka Springs home Dec. 31.

Acuna-Sanchez had a judicial hearing scheduled Tuesday in which he may have been released from jail if the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office could not produce murder charges. Sheriff Bob Grudek feared Acuna-Sanchez may have fled if released from the detention center.

Instead, investigators received last-minute ballistics lab results that allowed the Sheriff’s Office to arrest Acuna-Sanchez on suspicion of capital murder and keep him behind bars, Grudek said.

Acuna-Sanchez was arrested shortly after Aceves was found lying in a pool of her own blood with a .22-caliber gunshot wound to the head. The couple’s 5-month-old baby was found uninjured near Aceves. Aceves was rushed to Mercy Hospital in Rogers, where she was pronounced dead.

Acuna-Sanchez was later found hiding in his shower with a .22-caliber handgun on the floor. He was arrested on suspicion of criminal mischief, but authorities did not have enough evidence at the time to arrest Acuna-Sanchez on suspicion of capital murder.

The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office has been holding Acuna-Sanchez on suspicion of criminal mischief since the shooting death, while waiting for ballistics tests to come back on the bullet retrieved from Aceves’ head, Sheriff Bob Grudek said.

Acuna-Sanchez’s handgun was sent to the state crime lab to determine if it was the same gun that fired the bullet retrieved from Aceves’ head.

Acuna-Sanchez was arrested and released without bond three weeks before Aceves’ death on suspicion of breaking a protective order Aceves had out on the suspect. Acuna-Sanchez was also arrested Nov. 5 in connection with violating the protective order and theft of property, according to Carroll County court records.