Suspect in LR slaying ordered returned to jail
New arrest defies bond terms
A Pulaski County circuit judge has ordered the arrest of a Little Rock murder suspect after prosecutors reported the 31-year-old woman has been arrested by North Little Rock police on forgery charges.
Amber Rice’s arrest on April 5, the day after her 31st birthday, by North Little Rock police violates the conditions of her $75,000 bond on charges of first-degree murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm, deputy prosecutor Claire Maddox stated in her petition to Judge Cathi Compton. Compton ordered Rice’s arrest last Wednesday. Rice remained at large on Monday.
Court files show Rice was arrested after North Little Rock detectives identified her as the woman who deposited a forged check for $4,809 into her account at Arvest Bank, 13301 Crystal Hill Road, on Sept. 8. Security footage from the bank shows a woman matching Rice’s description making the deposit. Records don’t show when she was released from custody.
The murder charges stem from the Aug. 27, 2021, slaying of 37-year-old Jason Watson. Little Rock police responding to a 2 a.m. ShotSpotter activation found Watson in front of his home at 4408 W. 28th St., fatally wounded from a gunshot in his head. Watson died about 2½ hours later in the hospital.
Rice was arrested about a week later. No trial has been scheduled. Her attorneys are exploring a potential insanity defense, and Rice has pleaded innocent by reason of mental disease.
According to police reports, investigators questioned two people at the scene, tenants William Peterson, 74, and Veronica Rice, 55. Peterson said he’d been on the front porch drinking with Watson when a white car pulled up and a stranger got out of the vehicle. That stranger then got into an argument with Watson, which made Peterson nervous, so he turned away from the pair, Peterson told police. He said he heard a loud noise, turned back around and saw Watson on the floor bleeding. The white car drove off to the east, Peterson said.
Rice told police she’d known Watson for years and that she’d been on the porch drinking with him but she’d gone back inside before the shooting, leaving Watson and Peterson on the porch. She said Peterson came inside to tell her when Watson was shot and that she didn’t know anyone who would have wanted to hurt him.
Police found a large pool of blood on the porch and collected a 9mm round from just inside the front door. Detectives also collected surveillance video from a neighbor.
That recording shows Watson on the front porch when a white four-door sedan pulls up and parks. The driver walks up to join Watson on the porch. A short time later, the driver is shown running from the house back to the car. A woman gets out of the front passenger seat and “begins to act as though she is in distress and something bad has happened due to her body language.”
That passenger then drives off in the car while the original driver starts walking west, followed by Veronica Rice, while Peterson can be seen walking near the porch, according to police reports.
An anonymous tipster called police later in the day, stating that investigators should question Rice’s daughter, Amber Rice, and the younger Rice’s girlfriend, 34-year-old Candance Mosely, who owned a white car.
During a second police interview five days after the slaying, Peterson identified Amber Rice as the person he saw arguing with the victim, telling investigators he had not been forthcoming originally because he was afraid. Peterson said he had turned away from the arguing pair when he heard a shot and looked over to see Watson bleeding from the head on the front porch. Veronica Rice came outside and spoke briefly to her daughter before the younger woman left, Peterson said.
Mosely told police that she had been with Amber Rice the night of the slaying, stating that Rice had been driving Mosely’s white 2014 Ford Fusion and had taken them to the 28th Street home of Rice’s mother.
Rice had gotten out of the car while Mosely sat in the front passenger seat listening to music, Mosely said, describing how she heard arguing followed by a gunshot.
Mosely said she then got out of the car and saw Rice with a gun and heard her say, “F***, I didn’t mean to do that.” Rice then ran in one direction while her mother left in another direction, Mosely told police, saying she drove the car away but stopped nearby to pick up Amber Rice, who was crying and saying, “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Amber Rice surrendered while police were interviewing Mosely but declined to answer questions. She was arrested with her bail set at $300,000. Rice spent about seven weeks in jail until her bail was reduced to $75,000 and she was released on Oct. 25, 2021.