Jury receives glimpse into Shawna Cash’s childhood

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — On Friday, the jury continued to learn more about Shawna Cash’s life from witnesses called by the defense.

On Thursday, the jury found Cash guilty of capital murder, and other charges, for the death of Pea Ridge Police Officer Kevin Apple.

At the end of the day on Thursday, the jury was hearing from Cash’s older brother Chris. Many of the documents defense attorney Katherine Streett brought up were police reports and Arkansas Department of Human Services reports from before Shawna was born up until she was a toddler.

The reports ranged from family fighting, concerns about missing school, missing some clothing or glasses and physical abuse from Chris’s stepfather to him.

Chris took the stand again starting Friday morning. The defense brought up approximately 40 reports in total over the two days. These included DHS reports, police reports and crimes against children reports from the Arkansas State Police.

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The defense has also been logging the various addresses the three Cash siblings, Chris, Amber and Shawna, lived at over the course of these reports. She noted approximately 15 different addresses, oftentimes changing every year or few months.

Several DHS reports submitted as evidence detail sexual abuse all three of the Cash siblings endured at the hands of their maternal step grandfather.

Another series of reports goes into Shawna’s issues with irritable bowel syndrome, which Chris confirmed Shawna had dealt with all her life.

In one incident in May of 2004, the school nurse at Waldron Elementary School called DHS about Shawna coming to school filthy, covered in ticks, and infected tick bites and she was having trouble controlling her bowels at school. The nurse said they had bought Shawna panties several times.

In this same report, Amber told DHS workers that she had been left at home without food or water and she didn’t know when her parents would be back.

In another report from February 2005, Shawna told DHS how she had been in a lot of stomach pain and had asked to go to the doctor but her mother wouldn’t take her. School nurses and teachers had sent home notes to Shawna’s mother urging her to get help for her daughter. Shawna ended up spending four days in a hospital.

When the sibling got a bit older, they started spending summers with their biological father in Arizona. A report from an Arizona sheriff’s office described how the kids were in Arizona and their mother wouldn’t come pick them up because she had a warrant for a failure to appear. Chris confirmed for the jury that there were oftentimes issues with being dropped off or picked up from spending time in Arizona.

In an ASP Crimes Against Children report from May 2011, Shawna, who was in middle school at this time, shared about how her mother would get drunk and she didn’t feel safe at home when she drank. She also shared how she ran out of her medication for ADHD and PTSD but that she wanted to take her medication. She also said she would often miss school to stay home and take care of her mother.

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A DHS report from August 2011, talked about how Amber, Shawna and their mother had been kicked out of their apartment and were trying to find a home. A school counselor reported having to give clothes to Shawna. Her mother told the worker that they had slept one night in a car because they didn’t have anywhere to go. The Salvation Army and Home of Hope had helped them stay in a motel for a few nights.

Chris said around this time, his mother had gotten into a car accident with a drunk driver. He said she had a job that was helping her pay for school, but she lost the job and had to put school on hold. This led to their problems with finding stable shelter.

As the defense wrapped up its roughly five-and-a-half-hour questioning with Chris, Streett introduced several family photos of Shawna into evidence. One was of her as a young girl, another was a photo of Chris on Shawna’s back piggyback style, and another was a photo of the three Cash siblings on Chris’ wedding day.

Chris told the jury that Shawna wasn’t really good at making friends. He said she got bullied a lot for her IBS issues. Chris got very emotional recalling how their stepfather, Paul Lerch, treated Shawna’s health issues and how he “made it hard on her.”

He remembered when Shawna was just four or five years old, Lerch “folded her up and tried to squeeze it out of her.” Chris cried as he remembered Shawna screaming for him to stop but that he wouldn’t stop.

He told the defense how he’s a parent and stepparent now. He said Lerch’s negative interactions with them as children pushed him to be a better dad.

“No one gave a shit about me,” he said, and wants to be better for his kids.

The state did have some cross-examination for Chris.

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Chris clarified for them how he has held a steady job for years, including the entire decade he’s been married. He said that while his mother had struggles when they were children, he believes she did the best she could and still has respect for her today.

He told the prosecution that he’s visited Shawna a few times while she’s been in jail. He told them how, before she was arrested, Shawna would often reach out to him for help. He always told her that his home was open to her as long as she was clean. He told the prosecution that she sometimes wouldn’t take him up on that offer for help.

He also remembered a time when Shawna was around 17 or 18 years old and she got violent with their mother. Chris had to restrain her until the police showed up.

The defense clarified that sometimes Shawna would try to get clean and stay with Chris’ family for a bit. Sometimes Chris would wake up and find she had left in the middle of the night, but he did acknowledge there were times when she tried to be better.

Next, the defense called two of Cash’s former elementary school teachers from when she attended Waldron Elementary.

They first called Charlene Moudy, who was Cash’s kindergarten teacher. She told the jury she was nervous about being on the witness stand.

She remembered Cash as a “little bitty blonde-haired baby” who was always right by her side and always smiling. She said she had no behavioral problems from her.

The defense introduced the class photo from 2004 of Ms. Moudy’s class. You see Cash standing on the right side of the back row smiling, wearing a colorful t-shirt with blue short sleeves.

She remembered Cash having more bathroom troubles than a typical kindergartener would, having accidents and sending her to the nurse often. She said that frequent accidents can sometimes be a red flag that a child is experiencing sexual abuse.

The state asked Moudy if she ever sent Cash to a school counselor and she said she didn’t but there have been other times in her career that she has sent children to the counselor.

Next, the defense brought in Stacy Cox, who was Cash’s first-grade teacher. The defense introduced Cash’s individual school photo from this year. Her blonde hair was cut to her chin and she had a big smile but didn’t show teeth.

Cox described her as a shy student who was a bit of a loner, but that she was sweet and never misbehaved. She also said she was on average with her academic level. She said Cash didn’t really interact with other students.

Cox also remembered Cash’s issues with having bathroom accidents in class and that they would happen often. She said she remembered Cash having to spend four days in the hospital because she was in so much pain from her IBS.

The prosecution had no questions for her.

The defense brought in Amanda Smith, who told the jury she was nervous to be there. When asked if she knew Shawna Cash, Smith looked over to Cash in the courtroom and they both immediately started crying. Cash put the bases of her hands onto her eyes and held them there for about 30 seconds before wiping her eyes with her hands.

Smith told the jury that Cash and her son Tristan had started dating when she was about 14 years old. She was a few years older than Tristan but it later became evident that Tristan had lied to her about his age. Still, they were close and Cash went over to Smith’s home multiple times.

A few months into their friendship, Smith said she met Cash’s mom Karen for the first time when she brought Shawna to her home and asked if Smith would take temporary guardianship over Shawna.

Karen was getting ready to move out of state and Shawna didn’t want to go. Smith lived with both of her parents at their home and after discussing it with them, they decided to bring her in.

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Smith said her whole family welcomed Shawna in and everyone developed a positive relationship with her, especially her mom Lisa, who called her “Rhae Rhae”. Smith and Cash both got emotional again at this point.

“That’s my daughter,” said Smith when asked how she felt about Cash now.

Cash put her head in her hands and began slowly shaking it back and forth.

Even when Karen moved back to Arkansas a few months later, Cash continued living in the Smith’s home until she was about 18 years old.

Smith remembered they got into an argument where Cash hit her and was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge.

Smith said they did reconcile after this happened. “Families fight,” she said, but Cash decided to move out at this point and did not come back into the home.

When Cash first moved into Smith’s home, Smith was pregnant at the time with her youngest son. The defense submitted a photo of Cash holding her son when he was a toddler, both with big smiles on their faces.

They also submitted a photo of Cash with Tristan as young teens, both smiling.

The following testimony talks about suicide and may be difficult for some readers.

Smith said her whole world changed when both of her parents died. She got very choked up as she remembered the details of the day she found both her parents had committed suicide.

Smith said this is when her life fell apart. She lost her job and ended up losing and falling back into her meth addiction after seven years of sobriety.

“I was a good mom until I wasn’t and I neglected my children,” she said through tears. “I own that.”

She was arrested on federal conspiracy to distribute cocaine charges and ended up serving time in prison. Her son Tristan also fell into drug problems and is currently an inmate at the Delta Regional Unit with the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

When she was fully released back into society in 2022, she got another job and worked her way up to a management position and said she is doing well in her life right now.

She told the jury that she still loved Shawna with all her heart. She mouthed “I love you” to her as she walked out of the courtroom when she was done being questioned.

The defense then called Carl Dawson to the stand. He’s a licensed professional counselor who specializes in substance use based out of Springfield, Missouri. He’s also been involved in training lawyers and judges on what they should know about the impact of drugs on the body, specifically methamphetamine.

He said he did not know anything about Shawna Cash’s case or any particulars about any of her meth use, he was only there to give the jury information.

He gave a demonstrative presentation to the jurors about how meth affects the brain and a person’s actions.

He explained how meth is a man-made substance that can be snorted, smoked, swallowed or injected. He said it causes an extremely powerful release of dopamine that can cause brain damage, especially if someone does meth regularly. He said it can cause the same amount of brain damage to someone as a physical head injury.

He said the brain normally works at about 250 miles per hour and meth speeds that up even faster. Like driving a car faster than it should go, this can cause damage to the brain.

The midbrain is where dopamine is released and it’s a part of the brain. It’s a part of the brain that dates back to caveman times. He showed a picture of the brain that shows the pathways out of the midbrain and into the frontal cortex where the dopamine travels.

The frontal cortex is the part of the brain that is responsible for rational decision-making, controlling emotions, attention, concentration and social appropriateness. He said when the frontal cortex is flooded by dopamine caused by meth high, it takes the frontal cortex offline and reverts the human to caveman-like behaviors, including paranoia.

When someone is high on meth, he said they may grind their teeth, extend their neck, scratch themselves, talk fast, start sweating and appear to be having a powerful manic event.

Someone who does meth regularly tends to be thin and have rot in the teeth and gums because meth stops proper saliva production.

He said someone who uses meth but may not be high at the moment can still have that paranoid feeling which can lead to fleeing and escape behavior. He said meth’s high effects can last up to 48 hours long.

He also said that there is research that shows women are more likely to fall into meth addiction than men. This is because women are more likely to be depressed than men, and meth is a very strong anti-depressant.

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The state had some cross-examination for Dawson. He clarified that he is not a doctor and that he is getting paid $250 an hour for his time.

Dawson had included some generic photos of what the brain looks like when it’s been damaged by meth use. He confirmed that he had no idea the specifics surrounding the brain in the photo, like who that person was, their gender, how long they had been using meth, etc.

He confirmed again that he had not done any work with Cash or seen PET scans of her brain to determine the level of damage her brain may or may not have.

He also agreed that while there are a lot of variables to consider on a case-by-case basis, he said the information he presented to the jury gave a general understanding of the impact meth has on people and how it can impact their actions. He said he can’t say if everyone who gets high on meth experiences psychosis, but he said it is something he would expect in most people.

The prosecution wanted to know how someone can tell if someone’s erratic behavior is caused by meth or if it is just their normal personality trait. Dawson said meth can cause already existing personality traits to be enhanced.

The prosecution also asked him if impulsiveness is the opposite of premeditation. Dawson says that to be an impulse it has to have no predetermined thought.

The defense said it still has three more witnesses to call in the sentencing hearing before closing arguments can begin. Court resumes at 8:30 a.m. on Monday.

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