Man enters innocent plea in slayings of his mother, sister and stepfather.
Man held in deaths of mom, sister, stepdad is arraigned
FAYETTEVILLE — A man pleaded innocent Thursday to killing his mother, sister and stepfather last month at their home in Madison County.
Hunter Nolan Chenoweth, 22, was charged with three counts of capital murder in the deaths of his mother, Tammie Lynn Chenoweth, 51; sister, Cheyenne Chenoweth, 26; and stepfather, James Stanley McGehee, 59.
Hunter Chenoweth is being held at the Washington County jail with no bail set.
Thursday’s arraignment was by video in Washington County. Madison and Washington counties comprise the 4th Judicial District. Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay has been assigned the case and set a pretrial hearing for Sept. 14.
The three bodies were found in a home in Wesley, which is between Elkins and Huntsville, the afternoon of Feb. 23, according to the Arkansas State Police.
Chenoweth confessed to the killings, telling police the incident began with an argument between him and his mother, according to the preliminary report from the prosecuting attorney’s office. Chenoweth told police that he shot his mother after she pointed a weapon at him. Then he got into a fight with his sister, Cheyenne, who was in another room, and stabbed and shot her.
Chenoweth told police he waited for McGehee to get home from work and locked the front door, but McGehee saw his wife’s body on the floor through a window and busted in the door, according to the report. Chenoweth said McGehee had a knife, and he shot his stepfather several times.
Madison County deputies were called to the home earlier that day for a complaint against Hunter Chenoweth and Kalea Long, according to the prosecutor’s report. When deputies arrived, Chenoweth wasn’t there and deputies asked Long to leave.
Chenoweth and Long were living in De Queen but were temporarily staying at the home in Wesley, according to Matt Durrett, prosecuting attorney.
Hunter Chenoweth was free on bond at the time of the killings and had been ordered by a judge to have no contact with McGehee, according to court records.
Hunter Chenoweth is charged in Washington County with domestic battery and endangering the welfare of a minor on accusations that he stabbed his stepfather in front of his 17-year-old sister on Feb. 17, 2020, according to court records.
A Fayetteville Police Department report said Hunter Chenoweth was drunk and throwing things at his apartment at 2071 N. Chestnut Ave. McGehee went to the apartment to get Hunter Chenoweth’s sister and, during an altercation, was attacked with either a knife or scissors, suffering cuts on his right hand and neck during the struggle. Hunter Chenoweth denied having a knife or scissors and told police that he did not know how McGehee was injured.
Chenoweth released on bond on those charges but failed to appear for his arraignment a month later, resulting in his arrest in December. He was freed on a $50,000 bond on the failure-to-appear charge. He had a court date of Feb. 26 for those charges, but his case was continued to June 24.
According to reports, Chenoweth left the area after the killings Feb. 23. State police troopers began a search and, using cellphone data, found him driving a blue Dodge caravan, which matched the description of one of two vehicles that were at the house, traveling west on Interstate 30 near Benton, reports said. Police believe Chenoweth left Wesley driving a pickup that was found abandoned on Interstate 40 near Mayflower. He was then picked up by Long and an unidentified family member, police said.
Troopers pulled the van over and Chenoweth got out, armed with a rifle, and “appeared to be provoking troopers to shoot him,” according to the prosecutor’s report. Other state troopers moved in from behind Chenoweth, subdued him with stun guns and arrested him.
Long, another family member and several children, including a baby under a year old, were in the van. Durrett said the baby was Cheyenne Chenoweth’s child. Long was questioned and released, according to a police report.