No formal charges yet in officer’s slaying

NEWPORT — An 18-yearold accused in the June 12 fatal shooting of a Newport police officer has yet to be formally charged, and a Jackson County circuit judge set an Aug. 3 hearing for the teen’s next court appearance.

Tyler Calamese of Newport is being held without bail in the Craighead County jail in Jonesboro after Newport District Court Judge Barbara Griffin found probable cause to charge him with capital murder in the death of Newport Police Department Lt. Patrick Weatherford.

In a brief hearing in Jackson County Circuit Court on Tuesday, Judge Harold Erwin asked Calamese if he had spoken with Chris Nebben and Gina Reynolds, two Arkansas Public Defender Commission attorneys who are representing him. Calamese’s grandmother, Janet Reynolds, told Erwin she hoped to hire Little Rock attorney Bill James to represent her grandson.

Erwin then set Aug. 3 as the date when Calamese presumably will be formally charged.

Weatherford, 41, was killed after he responded to a report of someone breaking into a car near Remmel Park in Newport about 6:15 p.m. on June 12, police have said. Weatherford began chasing a suspect who, police said, turned and fired shots at the officer.

One bullet struck Weatherford in the abdomen and traveled to his heart, investigators testified during Calamese’s probable cause hearing on June 13.

Police said Calamese sur-

rendered to police about an hour and a half after Weatherford was killed. An investigator testified during the probable cause hearing that Calamese admitted to shooting the officer.

Weatherford was a 15-year veteran of the Newport Police Department.

“He’s innocent,” Reynolds said of her grandson outside the courthouse after the hearing. “I’m standing by him.”

As she spoke, a marquee at the First Baptist Church across the street flashed the message, “Prayers for NPD [Newport Police Department]” and displayed a photograph of the officer. Other signs across town also paid tribute to Weatherford, and an organization held a fundraiser

for Weatherford’s family at a Newport shopping center Tuesday morning.

Reynolds has said police arrested the wrong person. She said the man who killed Weatherford looks like Calamese, and her grandson went to the police station to clear his name and was arrested.

Third Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Henry Boyce said he has 60 days from June 13 to formally charge Calamese with capital murder.

“This is still an ongoing investigation,” Boyce said. “We want to make sure we check out all the information we have. I don’t want to disregard any lead and file charges blindly without knowing all the facts.”

Boyce said he has not determined whether he will seek the death penalty in the case.