A Mansfield woman facing a First Degree Murder charge and who has been at the state mental hospital since March of last year will remain in the custody of the Arkansas Department of Human Services until she is deemed fit to stand trial. That comes after a ruling in Sebastian County Circuit Court on Wednesday.
Thirty-three year-old Jordana Caraway Rogers, who was arrested as a fugitive from out of state In Nacogdoches County, Texas on an Aggravated Assault warrant, is suspected of killing her mother in December of 2019.
Rogers became a suspect in the murder of Melinda Rogers in a home in the 1000 block of Broadway in Mansfield after officals in Texas developed information during interviews with her that resulted in a wellness check being performed by Mansfield police.
Officers discovered the body of the victim and according to court records, Melinda Rogers was lying on her side, her head “black and blue and covered in blood.” Authorities also took a battery powered drill into evidence they think may have been a weapon in the killing.
The Arkansas State Police canvassed the neighnborhood and developed information that Melinda Rogers had not been seen in several days and that her car had been missing from the driveway for about the same length of time.
When Jordana Rogers was apprehended in Texas, she was driving her mother’s car. She was returned to Arkansas on January 3, 2020 and was transferred to the state mental hospital one month later.
According to the court ruliung in the hearing, Jordana Rogers was remanded to the custody of the director of the Deprtment of Human Services for "detention, care and treatment until her fitness to proceed could be restored".
