Files: Suspect recently overdosed

A man arrested March 17 in a fatal shooting in Pope County was committed for psychiatric and drug treatment in Little Rock last month after overdosing on methamphetamine and swallowing drain cleaner, according to court documents.

A judge in Russellville set bail at $ 250,000 for Nathaniel Symonds, 19, of Dover at a probable- cause hearing Monday. Symonds was being held in the Pope County jail on a charge of first- degree murder.

Symonds is accused of shooting Ronald Dean Esserman Jr., 42, of Dover with a shotgun March 17 on Oak Meadows Road in Dover, about 10 miles north of Russellville.

A probable- cause statement by Pope County sheriff ’ s office Lt. Jacob Yarbrough said officers were called to 245 Oak Meadows Road, where they found Esserman dead in the front yard of a mobile home. Symonds was found in a home down the street and arrested.

According to the statement, Symonds told investigators that Esserman attacked him, hitting and kicking him before Symonds was able to get away.

Symonds went to his grandfather’s home about 100 yards away and got a shotgun, the statement said. He walked back toward the mobile home and fired a warning shot in the air. Symonds told deputies that he encountered Esserman in the front yard of the mobile home and shot him.

“He said the victim fell to the ground and exclaimed ‘ I’m gonna die.’ [ Symonds] said the victim began to crawl away from him and [ Symonds] shot him several more times. [ Symonds] said he then walked up to the victim and shot him in the head,” Yarbrough’s statement said.

Prosecuting Attorney David Gibbons said he believed formal charges would be filed against Symonds in two or three weeks.

Records show that a petition was filed Feb. 8 in Pulaski County Circuit Court to involuntarily admit Symonds to CHI St. Vincent Infirmary’s Behavioral Health Unit.

The petition said Symonds, whose address was listed as 249 Oak Meadows Road in Dover, was admitted to the Little Rock hospital Jan. 31 on a 72- hour hold.