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Yell County Manslaughter suspect enters not guilty plea during Thursday morning plea hearing

Writer's picture: Dennis McCaslinDennis McCaslin

A preliminary hearing was held in the Fifteenth Judicial District Division 1 courtroom in Dardanelle today and ManSlaughter/Homicide defendant Scott Douthit entered a not guilty plea inn the January 17 shooting death of 20-year-old Jared Sykes in the Carden Bottoms of Yell County.


Special prosecutor Hugh Finkelstein made the trip from Little Rock and Douthit appeared with his attorney John Everett in court for the plea and arraignment hearing. The court set a date of October 18 for pre-trial and a jury trial ten days later in the case.


Douthit and some friends were in a cabin in the Carden Bottoms on the date of the homicide when law enforcement said he shot into a group of coyote hunters using a rifle with a thermal score. Sykes was one of that part and he was struck by tracer bullets from a rifle fired from the front of the cabin.


Douthit admitted he was one who fired the weapon in the direction of Sykes and his friends, who were over 200 yards away. One of the men with Sykes happened to be an emergency room doctor and rendered aid to the wounded man as they transported him to an area hospital where he passed away.


Douthit and the other men at the cabin admitted they had been drinking prior to the shots being fired at then hunting party that included Sykes.


It took Yell County officials more than five months to finally issue and serve an arrest warrant on Douhit, whose father is an attorney in Russellville. Douthit's father seemingly arrived at the cabin the night of the shooting before law enforcement officials spoke with the younger Douthit.


Douthit was given an extra week by the Yell County Sheriff Office after the warrant was finally signed by a judge and allowed to turn himself in on the following Monday. He was released within a few hours on a $25,000 bail after contracting with a Fort Smith bail bond company and putting up the $2500 bonding fee.


Manslaughter in Arkansas is a Class C felony is punishable by three to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Theft of Property worth $5,000 to $25,000 and Sale of Alcoholic Beverages to Minor (send offense within five years) are also examples of Class C felonies in Arkansas.






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