Murder trial set to begin June 27

The jury trial for Ronald Pierce, 51, an El Dorado man charged with first-degree murder is currently set to begin June 27 at the Union County Courthouse.

Pierce was arrested on September 5, 2020 and charged with the 1st degree murder for the killing of Willie Candley.

A late April trial date for Pierce was delayed due to Pierce’s defense attorney defense attorney Jimmy Morris having a second trial scheduled on the same day elsewhere in the state.

According to court records, El Dorado Police Departments responded to a call on September 5, 2020 on Marsh Avenue in El Dorado.

Records state that “upon arrival, officers observed the suspect and noted the knife with blood… on the picnic table in the front yard.” Officers noted a victim “lying in the yard and bleeding” and identified the suspect as Ronald Pierce and the victim as Willie Candley.

Pierce was arrested and Candley was transported to the Medical Center of South Arkansas, where he died of his injuries.

Investigators went on to speak to a witness — referred to in court records as Witness 1 —, who alleged Pierce asked them for a gun “prior to stabbing Candley,” records state, before interviewing Pierce.

Pierce allegedly “subsequently confessed” when investigators interviewed him, saying that he “had been involved in a physical altercation with Candley,” “asked witness 1 for a gun,” but was denied and “was armed with a knife and stabbed Candley in the torso.”

The trial is set to last for 2 days, according to a trial docket sheet issued for Judge Hamilton Singleton’s 13th Judicial District, Division 1 courtroom.