The Benton County prosecuting attorney said Monday (Jan. 28) his office has not decided whether to seek the death penalty for accused wife killer Perry D. Davis.
“We have not yet made the death penalty decision,” said Van Stone, prosecuting attorney, in an e-mail to 5NEWS.
Circuit Judge Brad Karren on Monday set an April 11 omnibus hearing for Davis, according to Karren’s office. The hearing is set to begin in Karren’s Division 2 courtroom at 9 a.m., officials said.
An omnibus hearing is held to determine whether attorneys for both sides have complied with the rules of discovery, among other matters.
Also Monday, the court assigned the public defender’s office to represent Davis, officials said.
Davis previously pleaded not guilty to killing his wife before turning the gun on himself in August.
Davis was charged Dec. 7 with capital murder and felony kidnapping. He remains in the Benton County Jail without bond, according to jail records.
Davis entered the not guilty plea in Judge Robin Green’s courtroom in Benton County Circuit Court, according to Green’s office.
Davis was arrested Nov. 8 after spending three months hospitalized in Bentonville, Fayetteville and Little Rock, recovering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after shooting and killing Kelly Davis Aug. 19, police and hospital officials said.
Police had been waiting for Davis to recover before officially arresting him.
Police said Davis shot his 44-year-old wife in the head in the couple’s home at 804 S.W. Ouachita Drive in Bentonville.
SWAT teams and police lined the street before entering the home following the shooting.
Kelly was dead at the scene. Davis was rushed to Northwest Medical Center in Bentonville and later transferred to Washington Regional Medical Center. Davis was later taken to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock, where he was in critical condition.
