Robber’s accomplice sentenced

Teen gets 10 years for role in Hot Springs home invasion

HOT SPRINGS — The 17-year-old accomplice of a 19-year-old man convicted earlier this year in a 2017 home invasion robbery pleaded guilty Monday to his role in the crime and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Jaehlyn T. Johnson, who was 16 at the time of the robbery, pleaded guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to a felony count of robbery, reduced from an original charge of aggravated robbery, punishable by up to life in prison, and was sentenced to 10 years with credit for time served since his arrest Aug. 18, 2017.

Rongerald Daytoine Witherspoon, 19, of Hot Springs pleaded guilty Sept. 11 to two counts of aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 12 years and 6 months on each count. He also pleaded guilty to second-degree battery and was sentenced to six years. All the sentences will run concurrently.

Witherspoon reportedly tried to rob the same woman twice last year. While Johnson was present during both incidents, he was only involved in the second incident. Garland County Public Defender Tim Beckham had filed a motion on Sept. 25, 2017, to have Johnson’s case transferred to juvenile court, but on Nov. 8, 2017, Judge John Homer Wright denied it.

Johnson, of Hot Springs, was set for trial on Nov. 6, but the case was continued until Monday for a disposition hearing.

Beckham said Tuesday that Witherspoon was the instigator in the incidents, but Johnson was “clearly involved in the immediate flight from the robbery,” which could make him statutorily responsible.

“Jaehlyn and his family understood the dangers of going to a jury trial on an aggravated robbery charge, and they were satisfied with the plea agreement,” he said.

According to the probable cause affidavits on the aggravated robbery charges, on July 6, 2017, a woman reported that a black male, later identified as Witherspoon, pulled a gun on her and struck her on the head with his fist during a robbery attempt.

She said she was looking inside the back seat of her car in the 800 block of Park Avenue when the male displayed a firearm and stated, “I know you have $150.” She said she responded, “Are you trying to rob me?”, prompting him to strike her on the head.

She said she grabbed a pipe from her back seat to defend herself, and the robber fled the area without getting any money.

A juvenile bystander, later identified as Johnson, reportedly observed the incident and gave Hot Springs police a description of the suspect and claimed he recognized him, providing officers with a name and corroborating the victim’s version of events.

On July 15, the same woman reported a second incident at her home in which she was accosted and her car was stolen by two young men. She told police she was asleep at her Park Avenue residence around 2 a.m. when her dogs began barking, causing her to wake up.

She said she sat up in bed and saw two people bent down on the stairwell outside. She demanded that they leave, but instead they rushed her, put a blanket over her head and hit her in the head numerous times.

She said she was able to break free and run outside, while the suspects stole her purse, a cellphone and her car keys.

A neighbor told police that she walked out of her apartment and saw two people standing next to the victim’s vehicle trying to get in, adding that she recognized one of them.

The two suspects reportedly returned to the victim’s apartment. The older one punched the victim in the face multiple times before running back to the woman’s vehicle, a 2005 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, and driving away, according to the report.

The victim recognized one robber as the teen who had reported witnessing the attempted robbery on July 6. She did not know the other suspect, but she told officers he was the same person who had pulled a gun on her on July 6.

Later on July 15, Johnson and Witherspoon were stopped by authorities in Center, Texas, driving the victim’s car.

On July 20, the victim identified Witherspoon from a photo lineup as the person who entered her residence without permission and burglarized her, and as the man who attempted to rob her on July 6. She also identified Johnson.

The woman suffered a broken nose, a head injury, bruising to her face and an undiagnosed medical issue with her right ear, all reportedly during the attack at her apartment.