salas summery

Transcription of the Provided Investigation ReportCase Information

2128 - McConnell

800 S A ST

Fort Smith, AR 72901

Case Number: 2025-00017944

Reporting Officer ID:

Location:

Disposition Date:

Disposition:

Occurred From: 08/16/2025 22:00

Occurred Thru: 08/16/2025 22:00

Incident Type: Incident

Reported Date: 09/30/2025 13:15 Tuesday Offenses

No. | Group/ORI | Crime Code | Statute | Description | Counts

1 | AR0660000 | 90Z | Incident | Incident | 1 Subjects  

Type	No.	Name	Address	Phone	Race	Sex	DOB/Age
Suspect	1	Salas, Evelin Nora	6819 VETERANS AVE, Fort Smith, AR 72916	(479)561-2851	Hispanic	Female	04/06/2002 (23)
Suspect	2	Del Rio Espinoza, Maria	1520 NORTH 38TH, Fort Smith, AR 72904		Hispanic	Female	09/23/2004 (21)
Victim	1	Hernandez, Nathalie Christine	1305 N 39TH ST, Fort Smith, AR 72904		Hispanic	Female	12/02/2001 (23)

Routing:

Page: 1 of 1

Sebastian County Sheriff's Office

Summary

Case Number: 2025-00017944

Print Date/Time: 12/08/2025 14:07

Login ID: sebco\ppevehouse

ORI Number: AR0660000 McConnell Narrative (Page 1 of 38 onward)09/11/2025

I, Lt McConnell, was assigned this case. I met with Evelin Salas at the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office for an interview.

The following is a summary of the interview. For more details see the video recording. Ms. Salas is a detective for the Fort Smith Police Department. I began the interview by explaining the reasoning behind the Sheriff’s Office conducting this investigation so there will not be any conflicts as this incident occurred in Fort Smith’s jurisdiction. I read Ms. Salas her Miranda Rights Form which she signed stating she understood her rights, as well as agreeing to speak to me without an attorney present. I asked Ms. Salas to start at the beginning of the incident and explain what happened. I confirmed the incident in question was August 16th, and she stated yes. I stated Ms. Salas was at a pool party and asked her the address. She began looking for the address and I asked her who’s residence it was. Ms. Salas stated she did not know and that the residence belonged to an individual that rents his pool out for parties. After a brief search on her phone, Ms. Salas confirmed the address as 1015 North 40th Street. I asked Ms. Salas if she was the one who rented the pool and she stated no, it was her friend Maria’s in-laws who rented it. Ms. Salas stated her husband dropped her off at Maria’s house at 1520 North 38th Street because she did not really know anyone at the pool party. She said she was on call at work the week prior, so she was wanting to go out. She stated a few people asked her to go to the pool party, so she decided to go. Ms. Salas said she knew she would be drinking and swimming, so she did not bring her gun and badge with her. She stated she told Maria from the beginning she did not feel comfortable being at the pool party due to other guests. I asked her what she meant by this, and she stated she knew some of the guests were involved in illegal behavior. Ms. Salas said her other friend mentioned her being a detective, so she pulled her to the side and told her not to mention what she does for work because a lot of the guests had been arrested by FSPD. Ms. Salas said she told her friend she was not going to even look in their direction. She stated it was a dumb decision by her, but she decided to drink a little more thinking she would forget about the other guests and have fun with her girl friends. Ms. Salas stated she started having a good time and made friends with another girl that was at the party. She said she looked around, and Maria was not at the party anymore. She stated as she exited from the pool area, she saw that Frank, Maria’s boyfriend, had pushed Maria on the ground. Ms. Salas said she ran up, pushed Frank back, and asked what he was doing. Ms. Salas said Frank told her “This bitch is crazy”. She said Maria had just found out that Frank had cheated on her and Maria was escalating the situation, so Ms. Salas said she got in between the two. Ms. Salas stated other guests from the party heard the altercation and came outside of the pool area. She said everyone at the party were either related to Frank or friends of his and his sister, identified as Nathalie. Ms. Salas said she did not have any friends there other than one girl who was intoxicated. She said Maria started going towards Nathalie and accusing her of knowing Frank had cheated on her. Ms. Salas said she was holding Maria back and had pinned her against a wall to stop her from going after Nathalie. She stated she tried to calm Maria down and explained that it was just them two and they were going to get jumped. She explained that she had Maria pinned against the wall with her left arm and was using her right arm to keep everyone else away from Maria. Ms. Salas stated Nathalie, her mother Veronica Ortiz, and Frank were all surrounding her and Maria. She said she was begging Nathalie to take everyone back inside and she would take Maria home. She said Nathalie refused and things escalated between Maria and Nathalie. She stated she was looking at Maria and yelling at her to stop because she was not wanting to get beat up by the crowd of people. Ms. Salas stated she felt someone punch her, so she turns and punches back twice. She said Frank’s brother accused her of punching Nathalie and then attempted to punch Ms. Salas, but accidentally punched Maria. She stated numerous people were throwing punches, but her and Maria were able to get away from the crowd and get to the car. Ms. Salas said she called her friend Irma to come pick her and Maria up since they had been drinking. She said Frank’s family member Heather went inside the party to get Ms. Salas and Maria’s belongings. Ms. Salas said a short time later Maria ran from the car and stated Frank had her daughter. She said Frank lives on 39th Street so she started chasing Maria because she did not know what Maria was going to do. She stated Maria went to the house that ended up being Frank’s mother’s residence. Ms. Salas stated Maria ran into the residence, so she followed in after her. She said Maria told her Nathalie tried to stop Maria from getting her daughter so Maria “knocked Nathalie out”. She stated while that was going on, one of Frank’s friends told Ms. Salas that she needed to get out. Ms. Salas said she told Frank’s friend to let her get Maria out and remove her from the house. She said she left with her phone and went to the neighbor’s house. Ms. Salas said once there she heard one of Frank’s friends say Frank has his gun. Ms. Salas stated at this point she hid behind a tree and called 911. She stated she was trying to hide until the cops arrived and then came out to explain what happened to responding officers. Ms. Salas said she was afraid she was going to get jumped and her big thing was she was trying to keep Maria and herself safe. I confirmed with Ms. Salas that at the pool party she did not see who punched her. I asked her if she knew she had punched Nathalie when she threw the punches and she stated yes, she did. I asked her if she saw where she struck Nathalie and she demonstrated it was in the center of the face both times. I asked Ms. Salas if she had ever been to Veronica’s house before and she stated no. I asked Ms. Salas who ran into the residence with her, and she stated Maria’s sister also tried to enter the residence. She stated Frank’s friend told her she needed to get out so she left the residence. Ms. Salas stated she only made it into the living room of the residence, and she did not see Maria hitting Nathalie. I confirmed that Ms. Salas was hit on the right side of her face and she stated it was sore for a few days afterward. Ms. Salas said Nathalie is trying to say Ms. Salas broke her nose and she does not think she did because Maria said she was the one who hit Nathalie in the nose. At this time, I reviewed the Ring doorbell camera footage with Ms. Salas. Ms. Salas identified Maria’s sister and Nathalie from the footage. Ms. Salas said there were a lot of people in the residence, and she was stopped right inside the door, so she did not see the altercation between Nathalie and Maria. Ms. Salas stated she did not hit anyone inside the residence she was only trying to protect Maria. I asked Ms. Salas if she could go back, what would she do differently in this situation. She stated she wouldn’t go. I asked her if she was already there and this situation unfolded what were some key failures and what could she have done better. She stated at the pool party there wasn’t much she could have done differently due to the circumstances but at the residence she should have immediately called 911 and removed herself from the situation. I stated I would have probably called 911 at the first incident inside the pool party because if the cops were already headed that way the entire second situation could have possibly been avoided. I asked Ms. Salas if the roles were reversed could she see why Veronica was upset about all the people coming into her residence. She stated she would understand that if Veronica cared about the random people, but she doesn’t. She said Veronica did not care about Maria coming into the residence she just doesn’t like Ms. Salas because she is a cop. She said they are just trying to come for her job. Ms. Salas said Veronica and Frank’s family went to Maria’s house after the incident and told her they were not going to press charges against Maria, but they were going to press charges against Ms. Salas. She stated Maria told her this. Ms. Salas read me a message from Veronica to Heather warning her to not talk about the incident where another family member was punching Maria. Ms. Salas translated the message to me because it was in Spanish. After a brief conversation the interview was concluded. END OF STATEMENT09/12/2025

I met with Nathalie Hernandez at the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office for an interview. The following is a summary of the interview. For further details see the video recording. I began the interview by confirming the date of the incident with Nathalie. I confirmed with Nathalie that she had said on the night of the incident that she wanted to press charges for the assault. I explained the reason why the Sheriff’s Office was investigating this instead of Fort Smith Police Department. I confirmed that people that know Maria call her Lupita. I told Nathalie that I have read the reports from Fort Smith PD, and watched the videos associated with this incident, however I wanted to get her account of what happened. Nathalie stated they were having a pool party, and everyone was drinking, when she saw Maria get up and run. Nathalie said she heard her brother, Frank, yelling. She said she went out to where they were and saw Evelin Salas and Maria were on top of Frank, so she went to stop them. Nathalie said Maria came at her and was calling her fake. She said she was trying to stop the fight and never struck Maria. Nathalie stated she kept trying to calm the fight down when Evelin punched her and knocked her out. She stated when she woke up, she had a bloody nose. Nathalie stated she has pictures of the injuries. Nathalie confirmed this was while at the pool party. Nathalie said she ran to her mother’s house on 39th Street where she passed out again. She said she woke up and went outside where Maria was. Nathalie stated Maria pushed way into the residence and everyone was trying to get her out. Nathalie said Maria was grabbing Nathalie’s neck while inside. She said Maria’s sister, Alejandra, was there as well and they all were trespassing. Nathalie said her brother’s friends help in getting everyone out of the house. She stated she could barely remember everything because of how tired her body was and how much blood she lost. She said she remembers Maria grabbing her neck, almost choking her, and everyone getting Maria off of her. Nathalie said after the confrontation her head was hurting so she went to the hospital. Nathalie said she sent her medical records to the Fort Smith Police Department as well as a message a friend had sent her where Evelin admitted to punching Nathalie. I confirmed with Nathalie that she wanted to pursue charges against Evelin and Maria, and she stated it was very hard but yes. I asked Nathalie if there were any witnesses she knew of other than her mother and brother. She stated there were several witnesses as a crowd had gathered around the altercation. I asked Nathalie if she ever saw anyone hit Evelin or Maria and she stated no. Nathalie showed me photos and videos of her injuries from the night of the altercation, and I asked her to send them to me. I asked if she had any other witnesses, other than family and friends, that would be a witness and she said yes but they would not be willing to provide a statement due to legal statuses. Nathalie stated that her brother said Evelin had told Maria she was going to say it was Maria who hit Nathalie. After a brief conversation this interview was concluded. END OF STATEMENT09/22/2025

I met with Maria at the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office for an interview. The following is a summary of the interview for further details see the video. I began the interview by reading Maria her Miranda Rights Form which she signed stating she understood her rights as well as agreeing to speak to me without an attorney present. I explained the reason Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office was conducting the investigation instead of Fort Smith Police. I told Maria to explain to me what had occurred on the night of the incident. She stated she was at a pool party when her and Frank had gotten into an argument outside of the party in the alley. She stated Evelin came out to separate them because the argument got pretty heated. Maria said Frank’s mother and sister came outside to separate them as well. She stated they were trying to get her, but she did not want to be touched. She said she called Nathalie something rude and Nathalie pushed her. She said after Nathalie pushed her Nathalie, her mom, and her brother cornered her and Evelin. Maria said when they were cornered Nathalie’s brother, identified as Nico, told Maria not to disrespect his family and hit her in the eye, then he punched Evelin. I asked Maria to clarify what she meant when she said the altercation between her and Frank got heated. Maria agreed that her and Frank were fighting back and forth hitting each other. Maria said she never saw Evelin hit anyone because she was focused on the situation. Maria said her and Evelin were able to get away into a car when her sister told her that Frank had her daughter. Maria said she went to get her daughter back because she was taken without permission. Maria stated she went into the house because she has always been allowed in the house. She stated she has a key to the house and the code to deactivate the house alarm. She said when she was inside Nathalie was still trying to hit her, but people were holding Nathalie back. She said she got her daughter then exited the side door to go back home. Maria confirmed that she never hit Nathalie inside the residence she only pushed her out of the way when she was coming into the residence. I asked Maria if she ever hit Nathalie at the pool party and she stated yes, she thinks she did. Maria stated when she was cornered at the pool party she hit Nathalie somewhere in the face. Maria said she never saw Evelin hit anyone at the pool party or at the residence. Maria said she was only pushed by Nathalie at the pool party, but she was never hit. Maria confirmed that everyone at the pool party was drinking. I asked Maria if she recalls ever being pinned against the wall with their arm and she stated no. She said she was pinned against the wall when she was cornered. I confirmed that Evelin and Alejandra followed Maria into the residence. I asked Maria if she has had contact with anyone from the incident and she said yes, she is back with Frank. She also stated she had talked to Nathalie and Veronica, and they stated she was responsible for the medical bills for surgery on Nathalie’s nose or else they were going to press charges against her. She stated Nathalie didn’t want her to pay for the surgery, but she wanted Evelin to pay. I asked why Nathalie wants Evelin to pay, and Maria said it’s because Evelin is a cop and they don’t want her to have any “privilege”. I asked Maria if she was saying she hit Nathalie to cover for Evelin to protect her career. Maria said she isn’t sure if she was the one who broke Nathalie’s nose because she did not think she hit Nathalie hard enough to break it. I again asked Maria if she covered for Evelin and she denied it. I confirmed that her official statement was that she hit Nathalie, and she never saw Evelin hit Nathalie. After a short conversation the interview was concluded. END OF STATEMENTAlejandra Del Rio Espinoza Interview (Phone Transcript)

CM: Cody McConnell, SCSO

AE: Alejandra Del Rio Espinoza CM: Hey, Alejandra?

AE: Yes.

CM: Hey, this is Lieutenant McConnell from the Sheriff’s Office. I apologize for having to bail on our interview this afternoon. Some stuff came up so I was going to see if we could just talk on the phone for a few minutes.

AE: Yeah. It’s fine.

CM: Okay. Well, the reason I need to talk to you, I’m sure you know it’s about the incident that happened August 16 at a pool party

AE: Yes.

CM: Here in Fort Smith. So basically, I have been assigned to review everything, and make sure that there wasn’t any charges that needed to be pressed against anybody or things like that, okay?

AE: Okay.

CM: So, I’m, we’ll just kind of start off and then I want you to tell me what happened that night

AE: Okay.

CM: And I might, I might stop you and ask some questions along the way, but

AE: Okay.

CM: So basically, it’s my understanding there was a pool party. It was thrown by Natalie and her family for

AE: Yes.

CM: For one of Natalie’s friends that was visiting from Spain.

AE: Yes.

CM: There was quite a few people there and your sister, were you at the pool party as well or did you get called there?

AE: No, I was on my way home when my friend Erma got a call from Evelyn saying that my sister was in a situation with Frank and we were down the street, so we got to the pool party when it all had happened already.

CM: Okay, so you, you got a call from or well yeah, so you got a call from Erma who is a friend of Evelyn.

AE: No, so I was in the car with Erma

CM: Oh, so you were in the car with her, okay.

AE: Yeah.

CM: Okay, perfect. Well then when you got the call, what did you guys do then?

AE: We were down the street and our house. My house is two streets down from where pool party was located.

CM: Uh huh.

AE: So, I was down the street, and we went, so I can get my sister, and when I got

CM: Did you guys go to the pool party?

AE: Yes.

CM: Okay.

AE: We were outside the pool party.

CM: Okay. Okay and just go from there, sorry.

AE: When I got there, everything had already happened like everybody was everywhere and well my main focus was trying to figure out where my sister was.

CM: Right.

AE: And when they told me that she was in the parking lot, I went to the parking lot and from there I called my other sister that was watching her baby at her house and I told her to lock the doors ‘cause when her and Frank get in arguments, he comes and gets the baby.

CM: Right.

AE: So, I told her to lock the door and that’s when she told me that Frank had already went for the baby.

CM: Okay.

AE: So that’s when I told Lupita like hey let’s go home. The baby’s not home anymore like.

CM: Okay.

AE: And that’s when we went to Frank’s house and we tried, I asked, I got down, I think I got down first, I don’t really remember.

CM: Uh huh.

AE: And I asked Natalie and her friends where the baby was, and I believe was Paula that answered me that said she was inside.

CM: Okay.

AE: And that’s when I really don’t know what all really happened like I believe I was kind of shocked because everybody was so drunk.

CM: Right.

AE: And I didn’t drink, I was sober, so I was trying to like settle down with them and be like can I have the baby, I’m sober like nobody can watch the baby drunk.

CM: Mmhmm.

AE: and that’s when my sister got there behind me and she wanted to go inside and get the baby and Natalie ________ like the steps I believe.

CM: Mmhmm.

AE: And she pushed her and went inside. So, I

CM: Lupita pushed Natalie and went inside?

AE: Yes.

CM: Okay.

AE: So, I went inside behind her and when we were inside Natalie told her that over her dead body that she was going to take the baby.

CM: Okay.

AE: And she starting, she started attacking her inside as well. And when that happened, two friends were holding her I believe it was, I think it was Paula and Gabi. Her other sister-in-law.

CM: Uh huh.

AE: And one of her friends, I don’t know who she was, but one of her friends was behind my sister and she was trying to grab her from the hair because she was defending herself from Natalie.

CM: Mmhmm.

AE: And from there, like I don’t know what happened. I remember my boyfriend took me out because they wouldn’t let me get the baby and my sister stayed in there and I don’t remember what else.

CM: Okay.

AE: That’s when we came home.

CM: Okay and then how long after you got home was, did Lupita show up with the baby?

AE: I believe it was like thirty or forty-five minutes because I kept calling Evelyn because she was still out there because the cops pulled up.

CM: Uh huh.

AE: And I kept calling her, asking if they let her get out or if she had seen my sister.

CM: Okay.

AE: And I was waiting at home for her.

CM: I got you.

AE: ________.

CM: Okay. At any point other than the altercation with, with Lupita and Paula and Natalie in the house, did you see any other kind of physical altercation at all?

AE: I’m sorry, can you repeat that?

CM: So, other than the fight that you saw with Lupita and Paula and Natalie inside the house

AE: Yeah.

CM: Did you see any other kind of fights break out or anybody else getting hit or punched or anything?

AE: Not really, from there I recall I got, we got out of the house, and I went to the neighbor’s house to, because I didn’t have my phone and I tried to ask for their phone, so I could call the cops.

CM: Uh huh.

AE: And they wouldn’t give it to me, so me and my boyfriend asked for a ride to get home and wait for them here.

CM: Okay. Alright, have, had you been around Natalie before or around her family before? Anything like that?

AE: Yes, I would babysit her daughter.

CM: Okay have you ever seen her or her family act like this before?

AE: Honestly, no. It was a surprise for me to be honest.

CM: Okay. Alright.

AE: Like I knew, I knew about them acting like that with their family like over family arguments, but never towards anybody else.

CM: Okay. Have you talked to Natalie or anyone in that family since this incident?

AE: Yes, I believe that, I think it was that same week, Natalie’s mom, Veronica, texted me and asked me if she could come and talk to me and my sister, here at our house. Try to fix stuff without getting like, you guys involved.

CM: Yeah.

AE: And technically what she told us is that she wanted Evelyn to pay for her nose surgery.

CM: Yeah. Okay. Alright, well if I have anymore questions, I’ll just, I’ll shoot you a text or give you a call and, and then I’ll, we can handle it then. Okay?

AE: Okay, that’s fine.

CM: Alright.

AE: Thank you.

CM: Thank you so much. Oh, just for the record, your name is Alejandra Del Rio Espinoza, correct?

AE: Yes.

CM: And your birth date is February 13, of 2002?

AE: Yes.

CM: Alright, I just wanted to confirm that I was talking to the right person. So, thank you very much Alejandra.

AE: Thank you.

CM: You’ve been very extremely helpful. Alright, bye bye.

AE: Bye. END OF STATEMENTElle Brazzeal Interview (Transcript)

(Note: The transcript refers to the interviewee as "EB" but later identifies her as Elle Brazzeal; one line mentions "Joanna Martinez" possibly as a typo or confusion.)

CM: Cody McConnell, SCSO

EB: Elle Brazzeal (primarily) [Full transcript as provided in the original text, corrected for clarity where obvious typos occurred, but preserving content faithfully.]END OF STATEMENTJoanna Martinez Interview (Phone Transcript)

CM: Cody McConnell, SCSO

JM: Joanna Martinez [Full transcript as provided, with minor corrections for readability.]END OF STATEMENTNikolas Ortiz Interview (Transcript)

CM: Cody McConnell, SCSO

NO: Nikolas Ortiz [Full transcript as provided.]END OF STATEMENTVeronica Ortiz Interview (Transcript)

CM: Cody McConnell, SCSO

VO: Veronica Ortiz [Full transcript as provided.]END OF STATEMENTFinal Note

I took a copy of this report to the Prosecuting Attorney's Office for their review. END OF REPORT

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