WASHINGTON COUNTY (KSFM) – The capital murder suspect accused of stabbing a Tontitown woman to death in May will have his trial reset from Thursday to an undetermined date, officials say.
Brock Atkins, 19, was scheduled to begin his trial Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court. He remains in the Washington County Detention Center without bond, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office website.
Atkins pleaded not guilty in June to capital murder before Judge Ray Reynolds. Not guilty pleas are common to allow the case to proceed in the court system.
The family of LeeAnn Frazier, the woman Atkins allegedly stabbed to death, said they want the death penalty for the suspect. Prosecutors said they have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.
Another suspect in the case, Lewis Hedges, remains in jail on suspicion of being an accomplice to capital murder. Hedges, 34, of Springdale, pleaded not guilty at his June 11 arraignment to a charge of being an accomplice to capital murder, officials said.
Hedges, known as “Tony,” was booked into the Washington County Detention Center on May 30 after being transferred from the Cass County Jail in Texas, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities arrested him in Texas after a week-long manhunt.
Hedges is being held without a bond on the felony charge.
Hedges was arrested May 29 by authorities in Texas following an interstate manhunt when Washington County deputies named him an accomplice in Frazier’s May 21 stabbing death.
Atkins, who was arrested May 21, is accused of stabbing Frazier in the throat until she was dead during an altercation that centered on drugs, according to court documents.