Sharp County man charged in 2 deaths, stabbing of woman

A Sharp County man was charged Monday with two counts of capital murder in an October stabbing rampage.

Charles Paul Stovall, 24, was charged in the killings of Hayleigh Gruger, 23, and Linda Janny, 72. Their bodies were discovered in their separate homes on Oct. 19. All three lived in Cherokee Village.

Stovall was also charged with battery in the Oct. 19 stabbing of Debbie Compton, according to the criminal information, which was signed by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Cooper.

Compton was riding in a vehicle with Stovall and another man at the time of her attack, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed on Oct. 27.

Stovall told police that he stabbed the two women to death because they had stolen from him, and he tried to kill Compton because “he was tired of her talking,” according to the affidavit.

Regarding Janny, Stovall told police “she stole my rights, my life. She stole everything I f****** have, you know what I mean, and I’m here to take it back.”

Stovall was paroled from

prison in August.

He pled guilty to burglary and drug charges in 2015 after police in Highland stopped a 2003 Cadillac DeVille in which he was a passenger. Police found several bags containing the residue of cocaine and 20 Mason jars in the trunk containing Psilocybin mushrooms, according to the affidavit from that arrest. Psilocybin mushrooms contain a natural hallucinogenic compound.

Stovall went to prison in November 2015, said Cindy Murphy, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Correction.

Court records indicate that he was serving time on the burglary charges, and the drug charge sentences were suspended.

Murphy said Stovall was paroled in August 2018.

In November 2018, he was charged in Sharp County with possession of drug paraphernalia and went back to prison for violating his parole.

He remained in prison until being paroled again this August, Murphy said.

Besides the murder and battery charges, on Monday, Stovall was also charged with abuse of a corpse, aggravated residential burglary, breaking or entering, and theft of property. He has yet to enter a plea in the case, according to court filings.

Because Stovall had previously been convicted of four or more felonies, his prison term should be extended, Cooper wrote in the criminal information.