Apology, then slaying detailed in affidavit
Stepson charged in Lake City shooting
JONESBORO — Christopher T. Yerbey apologized, then pulled the trigger of a gun held to his stepfather’s head, an arrest affidavit filed in Craighead County District Court indicated.
Yerbey, 27, is charged with first- degree murder and theft of property in the Monday slaying of Rickie Glen Kirkendoll, 55, of Lake City.
District Court Judge Tommy Fowler set a $ 1 million bond, and Yerbey remains in the Craighead County jail in Jonesboro.
Yerbey will be arraigned Nov. 17 in Craighead County Circuit Court in Lake City, said Craighead County Sheriff Marty Boyd.
According to the arrest affidavit filed by Sgt. Ron Richardson of the Craighead County sheriff ’ s office, Kirkendoll’s wife, Linda Kirkendoll, told police her husband and Yerbey engaged in a fistfight last week, but “everything has been normal between them since then.”
Linda Kirkendoll told Richardson she began cooking dinner with her husband in their Fourth Street home in Lake City at about 4 p. m. when Yerbey entered the kitchen.
She said Yerbey put the gun to Rickie Kirkendoll’s head and neck and said, “I’m sorry” and then fired the weapon.
“Linda said Tray appeared to be trying to reload the gun and she was in fear for her life and ran out of the house,” Richardson wrote in the affidavit.
Linda Kirkendoll hid in bushes near her home and saw Yerbey come outside and appear to be looking for her. She told Richardson she ran to a neighbor’s house and called authorities when Yerbey was out of sight.
Boyd said Yerbey then drove off in his stepfather’s Ford F- 150 pickup.
Yerbey turned himself in to the West Memphis Police Department on Tuesday morning and was transported back to the Craighead County jail.
Authorities found Rickie Kirkendoll’s truck burned in a Crittenden County rice field.
Richardson said it appeared the fire had been set in the cab of the truck and the gasoline tank.
Yerbey also was charged with theft because he took his stepfather’s truck, Boyd said.