LR man fit to stand trial, a judge rules

He’s charged in slaying, kidnapping

A Little Rock man accused of fatally stabbing a Conway man and stealing his truck has been pronounced fit to stand trial on first-degree murder and kidnapping charges after spending six months in the State Hospital.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson ruled on the issue of Quincy Barnard Hughes’ sanity Tuesday after hearing testimony from state psychologist Benjamin Silber. The judge also scheduled Hughes’ trial for September.

Silber, with psychology intern Kendell Reiner, performed the March evaluation on Hughes that determined the 33-year-old defendant is not mentally ill.

Silber found Hughes to have borderline intellectual functioning and persistent depressive disorder while suffering the effects of cocaine and alcohol abuse.

The state psychologist testified for about 25 minutes at Tuesday’s sanity hearing, explaining how he reached his conclusions based on testing, the defendant’s psychiatric records and police reports from the February 2016 slaying of 52-year-old Michael Alan Hamby.

Silber told the judge that Hughes has the capacity to assist his lawyers, understands the difference between right and wrong, and was able to exert self-control at the time of the killing, all requirements for a defendant to be found competent for trial.

Hughes was committed to the State Hospital in August for treatment and observation after the first state psychologist to examine him reported she could not rule out that Hughes had schizophrenia, based in part on his history of mental problems.

Hughes is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, theft and cocaine-trafficking. He has been in custody since his February 2016 arrest about three hours after the critically wounded Hamby was found behind the East 10th Street home of 64-yearold Willie Gibson.

Hamby, a father of two and the owner of Mark’s Custom Car Care in Conway, died a short while later in the hospital.

According to police reports and court documents, witnesses told officers they had seen Hughes driving Hamby’s red 2004 Chevrolet 1500 pickup in front of Gibson’s home. Hamby was in the passenger seat while Kim Sullivan was in the back seat.

Sullivan, the woman Hughes is accused of kidnapping, told police that Hughes and Hamby had argued over drugs, but the quarrel turned violent when Hughes started stabbing Hamby.

Sullivan directed police to the Sportsmen’s Inn on East Broadway in North Little Rock where police found Hamby’s pickup before arresting Hughes inside his hotel room. Detectives reported that Hughes had a “sizeable” amount of crack cocaine when he was arrested.

Hughes told authorities that he had gone to the 10th Street home because he was feeling lonely after a night of drinking and using crack cocaine, a binge brought on after being fired from his job.

He’d “rented” Hamby’s truck in exchange for some cocaine, he said. The two men had gone driving around together, with Hughes driving, and they eventually picked up Sullivan, Hughes told police.

After they’d returned to the 10th Street house, and parked outside, Hughes said he noticed he was missing some “stuff,” which he accused Hamby of taking.

Hamby denied taking anything, which led to a confrontation, Hughes said.

He stabbed Hamby with a pocket knife when the older man began choking him, he said. He acquired the knife from Gibson in a swap for some cocaine, he said.

Hamby released him, he told police, and he helped Hamby to the back porch of the home, knocked on a window, called for Gibson to come out, then left in the pickup with Sullivan.

Sullivan went with him willingly to a hotel where he checked in, gave her “some stuff” and fell asleep, he said.

Hughes said he woke up when police arrived.