2 libraries to close for building, move Atkins man faces charge in killing

Central Arkansas Library System branches at 10 Lake Pointe Drive in Maumelle and 31 Shelby Drive in Sherwood will be temporarily closed to continue renovation and construction projects.

The Maumelle Library will close Nov. 20 for a $1.95 million remodeling and expansion project, and it will remain closed through early March, the library system said. Its 1,377-square-foot addition will include five new study rooms and one additional meeting room, with additional space in the existing building for a children’s program room.

The Maumelle expansion is funded by bonds issued by the Maumelle Facilities Board in December 2016.

Sherwood’s Amy Sanders Library will close Dec. 4-7 in preparation for the move to its new 14,500-square-foot library at 10200 Johnson Drive. Patrons must collect “hold” items by 6 p.m. Dec. 2, according to a news release from the library system.

Sherwood voters approved a 1.3-mill personal and property tax in November 2014 to support the issuance of bonds to fund its new library. The library system broke ground on the Johnson Drive site earlier this year.

The system includes 14 branch libraries in the greater Little Rock area and in Perryville.

A 29-year-old Atkins man has been charged with first-degree murder after he reportedly told police he beat a man to death with a hammer.

Daniel Joseph Hoffman was in the Pope County jail on drug charges when investigators questioned him Nov. 3 about the homicide of Jeremiah Murry, also of Atkins, who was reported missing Sept. 15.

Murry’s remains were found Sept. 23 “six to eight feet inside the bushes” at a residence on Gold Hill Road near Lake Atkins, according to an affidavit of probable cause from investigator Chris Ridenhour of the Pope County sheriff’s office.

“Hoffman admitted killing Murry at the location where his remains were found by striking him several times with a hammer,” Ridenhour wrote. “He then took [Murry’s] vehicle and abandoned it off Flag Lake Road,” which is near the Arkansas River.

Hoffman told another man that Murry said he wanted to die, according to the affidavit.

Hoffman was arrested Sept. 20 at the Atkins carwash, which deputies were patrolling because of complaints of drug activity there, according to the affidavit.

Hoffman was charged with possession of 16 grams of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and possession of less than 2 grams of cocaine, according to the affidavit.