Judge hears details of ex- pitcher’s 2016 LR slaying, denies reduction in bail

The only witness to the Christmas Eve slaying of former professional baseball pitcher John David Barfield is the 17- year- old son of the man accused of killing him, a Little Rock police detective said Monday.

Detective Matt Huffine said Trent Goodman described seeing his father, William Lee Goodman Jr., and Barfield grappling on a two- story staircase behind Barfield’s home at 514 Sherman St.

The teenager said he then saw his father shoot Barfield twice in the chest just as the struggling men fell over the railing to the ground, a drop of about 15 feet, the detective testified.

Huffine was testifying at a bail hearing for William Goodman, who has been jailed since his arrest the same night as the shooting last year. Goodman, represented by attorney Matthew McKay, had requested his $ 250,000 bail be lowered to a more affordable amount.

The stairs where the two men were struggling led to a landing outside the kitchen at the back of Barfield’s home, the detective said.

After the men fell from the stairs, the teen said, he helped his father to his feet and back into their car so they could return to the Sherwood home of Goodman’s fiancee, Huffine said.

Although Trent Goodman ultimately told police that he had picked up the gun and given it to his father, police have not found the weapon, Huffine said.

Father and son were at the house so the teen could pick up a Christmas present from his mother, Mystic Annette Goodman, and for his father to get a check from her, Huffine said.

Mystic Goodman, 52, was living with Barfield and is William Goodman’s estranged wife, the detective testified.

Barfield and Goodman had argued before, but their encounters had never been physical, he said.

Barfield pitched for the Texas Rangers for three seasons beginning in 1989 and played for teams in Mexico, Taiwan and Japan before retiring in 1998 from minor league play. Court records show he had fallen on hard times in the months before he was killed.

He was arrested for shoplifting at the Little Rock WalMart at 19301 Cantrell Road in

April after he walked out of the store without paying for merchandise that store security said he’d hid on his person.

He was then transported to Jefferson County jail on a felony nonsupport warrant for owing $ 20,971 in child support. He pleaded guilty last September in an arrangement with prosecutors to repay the money at $ 178 per month over 10 years, then have the case expunged.

In a May affidavit to the court, Barfield reported he was disabled and largely unable to work or hold a job, although his sister had found him a part- time position that would pay $ 160 per month. Barfield was in the process of applying for disability at the time, the court filing states.

His family had paid $ 2,000 toward his support debt, and his lawyer, Ed Adcock, reported he was working on the child- support case for free.

Barfield was killed two days before the 19th birthday of his daughter, his only child.

Describing the Christmas Eve events, Huffine told Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson that the elder Goodman entered Barfield’s backyard first, with his son and estranged wife following.

Mystic Goodman heard the shots but did not see what happened.

Johnson declined to reduce Goodman’s bail after hearing testimony that someone told paramedics who were called to a Sherwood location to tend an injured Goodman that he had been stabbed.

But those paramedics became suspicious, so they called

police, who were waiting for Goodman at the hospital, Huffine told the judge.

The judge also heard conflicting testimony about the extent of Goodman’s injuries. Huffine told the judge the defendant was discharged after about two hours and wasn’t seriously injured in the fall.

Huffine said the injuries he saw on Goodman were superficial scrapes and minor cuts, none requiring stitches, while Goodman testified he needed 18 stitches in his hand.

Goodman started to tell the judge what had happened between him and Barfield on the stairs, saying a door opened and “all of a sudden I got hit with something metal.” But his attorney cut him off and told him to focus on his injuries.

“I’m all stove up,” Goodman told the judge, describing severely bruised ribs from the fall. He also said he’s generally in poor health with a damaged, unrepairable aorta, prostate cancer, circulation problems that render his legs numb and high blood pressure.

“I’m very weak,” he said. “I can’t walk more than 20 steps without pain.”

Goodman denied telling doctors he’d been stabbed at home, saying he did not remember much of what happened in the hospital.

Goodman also told the judge he’d worked in Pine Bluff law enforcement, but was challenged by deputy prosecutor Tonia Acker.

He said he’d once been a code enforcement officer for Pine Bluff but had supervised police officers on nui-sance-abatement cases, testifying that he’d been given that job by the mayor.

He acknowledged he had been fired from his last job, saying he had “butted heads” with management at Metal Mart. But he denied accusations that he’d stolen from the business.

Goodman also testified that he did not know he’d been charged with felony theft in Jefferson County over the allegations and that he’s never been to court in that case, which was filed in May 2015.

He acknowledged he’s been investigated in separate instances for sexual assault of a child and aggravated assault, but said he was cleared of wrongdoing.

The aggravated- assault charge stems from a November 2005 arrest in which Goodman was accused of shooting a gun into the ceiling of a Dollarway Road bar in Pine Bluff. Officials said at the time that he had been with the Pine Bluff code enforcement division for about eight years.

Goodman told the judge that he and Mystic Goodman split up about 18 months before the shooting. He’s been engaged for about six months to 57- year- old Kristy Mills Maserang of Sherwood, he said.

Maserang told the judge that a severely bleeding Goodman showed up at her home on Christmas Eve so weak that he couldn’t get out of the car by himself. He had a cut on one wrist that went to the bone, she testified.

Her 87- year- old father had been in the car with the Goodmans when they were at Barfield’s home, and bullets that police found in the vehicle belonged to him, she said.

Maserang said that she never heard anyone say anything about a shooting and that

the only guns she’s ever seen Goodman with were long guns for hunting.

Maserang said she’s known Goodman since August and they’ve been engaged since October. She described him as a loving father with a close relationship with Trent, who lives in Pine Bluff. She described him as well- liked and garrulous.

“He makes friends everywhere,” she told the judge. “He has never shown me a mean streak.”