Shooting suspect faces new charges
HOT SPRINGS — A man who said he accidentally shot a woman to death with a sawed-off shotgun Saturday night was charged with second-degree murder Monday.
Levar Laron Strickland, 41, was taken into custody at his Hot Springs residence around 7:30 p.m. Saturday. He was initially charged with criminal use of a prohibited weapon and possession of a defaced firearm, each punishable by up to six years in prison, in the shooting of Stephanie Malicoat, 40, inside his residence.
Additional felony charges of second-degree murder, punishable by up to 30 years in prison, and three counts of endangering the welfare of a minor, punishable by up to six years, were filed Monday against Strickland.
Strickland is set to appear July 8 in Garland County District Court, although he will likely be arraigned before then.
According to the probable cause affidavit on the initial charges, Hot Springs police responded to the North Patterson Street residence at about 7:20 p.m. Saturday regarding a shooting, and they found a woman with a gunshot wound.
Strickland was at the scene and told police that he accidentally shot the woman with a sawed-off shotgun, the affidavit said. A search warrant was obtained for the residence, and a 12-gauge shotgun was found, according to the affidavit. The barrel of the weapon had been cut down to less than 12 inches, making it a prohibited weapon, and the serial numbers also had been filed off, the affidavit said.
Police identified the victim as Malicoat in a news release Monday and noted that she was found dead in the house. Police initially said they believed the shooting involved a domestic dispute and that the victim was the girlfriend or wife of the suspected shooter.
According to court documents, Malicoat filed a petition for an order of protection against Strickland on March 19, 2012, noting that they lived together and had a child together. Malicoat said she went home three days earlier and found her son, who was 2 years old at the time, “unable to walk without falling down” and took him to the hospital where it was determined he was intoxicated, with a blood-alcohol content of .173 percent, more than twice the legal limit, documents said.
She noted he was under the care of Strickland at the time and that Strickland was “very intoxicated.” The petition was denied March 29, 2012, after Garland County Circuit Judge Lynn Williams ruled that “giving a minor alcohol does not appear to fit the definition of domestic abuse.”