Jury finds Shawna Cash guilty of capital murder in Pea Ridge officer’s death
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — After several hours of deliberation Thursday morning, a jury found Shawna Cash guilty on all counts for the death of Pea Ridge police officer Kevin Apple.
She was found guilty of capital murder, fleeing, aggravated assault against Apple, aggravated assault against former Pea Ridge officer Brian Stamps and obstructing government operations.
The jury got the case just after noon on Wednesday and spent the rest of the day discussing the case. The jury asked to go home for the night and come back Thursday to continue. The jury resumed deliberations around 8:40 a.m. and came back with a verdict at 11 a.m.
In total, it took about seven hours for the jury to come to a decision.
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As Judge Brad Karren read the verdict, specifically the capital murder charge, there was a palpable sigh of relief from many in the courtroom. One woman held on to her cross necklace in the moments leading up to the verdict being read.
Several put their heads in their hands, others appeared to be visibly emotional, including Apple’s mother, who had attended the entire trial.
Cash had no reaction to the decision.
Immediately after the verdict was read, Karren read the jury their instructions for the sentencing hearing.
Defense attorney Katherine Streett gave a brief opening statement to the jury.
She began by acknowledging this would be a tough decision moving forward. The death penalty is the maximum sentence for someone found guilty of capital murder and the prosecution has made it clear that it will be pursuing this.
One juror dabbed her eyes with a tissue, clearly emotional from the verdict reading. Streett said she did not take issue with the jury coming to the conclusion that it did. She made sure to tell the jurors she appreciated their work and the amount of time they put into deliberating this big decision.
She said over the next few days, they will mostly be hearing from witnesses called by the defense to give more context into Cash’s life.
She said they would see documents about the instability and negligence Cash dealt with in her life along with her struggles with addiction.
State rests its case in trial for woman accused of killing Pea Ridge officer
The state began by calling two witnesses to the stand. The first was Lt. Richard Fordham, who has “1212” tattooed on his arm. 1212 was Apple’s badge number and has since inspired December 12 to be named “Officer Kevin Apple Day” in Benton County.
They played the End of Watch Call which is ceremonially played anytime a law enforcement officer is lost in the line of duty. You hear the dispatcher come on the line and call “Pea Ridge 1212” several times. They acknowledge there is no response. The dispatcher says “We love and miss you” to Apple.
This phone call caused a lot of emotion in the courtroom. Several people in the gallery grabbed tissues to wipe their eyes and tried to stifle their sniffling. About eight members of the jury could also be seen wiping their eyes with a tissue.
Next, Sgt. Kenneth Cogdill took the stand. He works in the detention center at the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.
He said they take mug shots the same day that someone is arrested and brought to the jail. The prosecution admitted both of Cash’s mugshots as evidence.
He said he is responsible for the preservation of records of the people who are inmates in the jail.
While he was on the stand, the prosecution played two recorded phone calls from Cash as she was held in the jail.
In the first one, she is talking to a man and says, “I can’t believe I went worldwide,” with a laugh. She exclaims about being on the news, on Facebook, on the walls of Walmart and going “worldwide.”
UPDATE: Deliberation continues Thursday in Shawna Cash’s capital murder trial
“Your sis went from being a pimp to a nationwide…” she said.
“Criminal,” the man on the other end of the line finishes her sentence.
She is heard laughing back at this.
In the second recorded phone call, the phone call begins by hearing the operator messaging saying the call may be monitored or recorded.
She refers to the man on the other end as “Fish.”
Fish tells Cash about the memorial that was put up by the community where Apple died in Pea Ridge. He joked that he should place a can of applesauce there.
Cash laughs at this.
“My girl made applesauce on that motherf***er,” he said and Cash laughed back again.
Cash brings up how she heard on the news about the dedication of Officer Kevin Apple Day. She sounds matter-of-fact as she says this. Fish replied that he hadn’t heard about that.
The state rested its case. Karren sent the jury to lunch.
During the lunch break, KNWA/FOX24 caught up with Pea Ridge Police Chief Lynn Hahn, Benton County Justice of the Peace Brian Armas, who represents Pea Ridge, and former Pea Ridge Mayor Jackie Crabtree.
All three were in the courtroom on Thursday. All three said they would prefer not to give any comment right now out of respect for the proceedings still going on.
Stamps also declined to comment.
After the lunch recess, before the jury was called back in, the defense brought up concerns with several of the aggravating circumstances with the capital murder charge.
Streett had an issue with the cruel and depraved conduct circumstance, which essentially says someone intended to inflict physical abuse and torture on someone before their death, and that someone relishes or takes pleasure from the murder.
She argued Cash wasn’t aware she was dragging Apple’s body, and that she was only aware that she had hit Apple. And as the forensic Pathologist Dr. Charles Kokes testified earlier this week, the initial impact wasn’t what killed Apple. He died after being crushed at some point later after being dragged.
She said while it’s clear there was callousness and a certain attitude about the death after the fact, as heard in the recorded phone calls from the jail, there is no evidence that Cash relished her actions in the moment of doing them.
Streett also did not feel the act of fleeing was hindering a lawful exercise, which was another aggravated circumstance she had an issue with.
Prosecutor Joshua Robinson argued that the jury found her guilty of capital murder by using a vehicle in the act of killing another. Apple was crushed while Cash was driving, and Kokes testified that Apple was alive as he sustained many of his injuries while being dragged.
Robinson argued that statements and actions after a murder can be used to indicate feelings at the time of the act. He also said she never stopped and only had concern for herself and Elijah Andazola, her co-defendant, throughout the entire arrest and questioning.
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Robinson said the phone calls show she relished in the murder and was indifferent to the consequences of her actions.
And finally, regarding the hindering of a lawful exercise, he said the police are a government entity and the jury found her guilty of obstructing government operations.
It was Karren’s job to hear the motions from the defense and rebuttal from the state and make a decision. It was the first time the audience heard his view on the case.
He said it was hard to believe that Cash didn’t know Apple was underneath the car. He also said he finds it hard to believe she didn’t see him.
He made the point that “curbs are her area of safety.” She often heads for curbs when she is being chased. She hit curbs as she fled from Rogers police earlier in the day on June 26. She also hit a curb when being chased by Farmington police about a year earlier.
He said Apple was “fighting to the end” under her car, as is evidenced by the fact he held onto his gun for about 100 feet while being dragged, and only dropped it after being crushed between the car and the curb.
He denied the defense’s motion regarding the cruel and depraved aggravating circumstance.
He found it hard to believe she didn’t know that officers were around her, which is clear from when she yelled at Andazola to “get your b**** a** in the car” before speeding into Apple.
He said Apple was clearly in his uniform, the patrol cars had their lights on and there was no doubt that government operations were underway.
He denied the defense’s motion regarding the disrupting government function aggravating circumstance.
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The defense spent much of the afternoon on Thursday talking with Chris Cash, Shawna’s older brother.
Streett asked Chris about 16 different government documents from the time he was born in 1992 to 2003.
Several were incident reports from when his family lived in Arizona, detailing family fighting incidents involving Chris and Shawna’s parents. Their parents married and separated several times in that time frame. Michael Cash, their father, was never asked to pay child support because of his disabilities and mental health issues.
There were also several Arkansas Department of Human Services checks where at times the children were described as in good health and good spirits. Other times, there were reports of missing shoes or didn’t have glasses when they needed them.
The schools they attended in Waldron called for a DHS check when Chris and their middle sister, Amber, had missed almost 25 days of school. The school was warned to file a truancy report.
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In June 2002, Karen Cox, their mother, remarried a man whom Chris described as physically and verbally abusive to him and the other boys in the family. He said his stepfather was more lenient and kind to the girls in the family. Shawna would have been four years old at the time.
Michael Cash filed a petition for order protection in May 2003 because he couldn’t get in contact with his kids and was told to file a missing persons report.
The court went into recess for the evening at this point. Streett told the judge she still had about two hours of questioning with Chris Cash and then a few more witnesses afterward.
It’s expected the jury will be able to deliberate the sentence on Monday.
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