Suspect who fled police faces charge in slaying

HOT SPRINGS — A homicide suspect from Hot Spring County was apprehended in Gulpha Gorge after a brief manhunt Wednesday afternoon after he fled from officers, according to Garland County Under Sheriff Jason Lawrence and the Hot Spring County sheriff’s office.

Jeremy Coston, 30, of Magnet Cove, has been charged with first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by certain persons in relation to a homicide Tuesday in Hot Spring County, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

Coston was identified as a person of interest in the homicide by the Hot Spring County sheriff’s office, which contacted the Garland County sheriff’s office and the Hot Springs Police Department for assistance, Lawrence said.

Coston’s location was determined to be the DeSoto Park area, located off Park Avenue near Gorge Road.

Multiple agencies responded, Lawrence said, including Arkansas State Police, the Garland County sheriff’s office, the Hot Springs Police Department, Diplomatic Security, representatives from Clark County sheriff’s office, Hot Spring County sheriff’s office and “various others.”

Shortly before 3 p.m., Coston fled from a vehicle at DeSoto Park when law enforcement agencies attempted to make contact with him. He was later located and taken into custody, along with another individual, shortly before 3:30 p.m. at nearby Gulpha Gorge, Lawrence said.

Hot Spring County sheriff’s deputies who were dispatched to a residence in the 200 block of Old Mill Road in Hot Spring County on Tuesday located Johnathon Dale Schreiner inside a residence, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office that was posted on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon.

“Schreiner had apparently been shot and was pronounced dead. Witnesses on the scene relayed information to the investigators, and the suspect has been identified as Jeremy Coston, 30, of Hot Spring County,” the release said.