Woman guilty in teen’s killing

TEXARKANA — A woman accused of fatally shooting a Foreman High School junior with an AR-15 rifle during a birthday party changed her plea to guilty Monday and was sentenced to 47 years in prison.

Traci Dierks, 41, of the Wallace community in Little River County, pleaded guilty Monday in Little River County Circuit Court in Ashdown. Circuit Court Judge Charles Yeargan sentenced her to the maximum 30 years for the second-degree murder of 17-yearold Caitlin Caskey, Prosecutor Bryan Chesshir said.

She also was sentenced to one year in prison on a charge of aggravated assault for the gunshot, which also struck another teen in the arm during the Jan. 23 shooting, nine additional years on three counts of aggravated assault for pointing the weapon at other teenagers who attended the party, and seven more years on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor — based on one year per each of seven counts — for offering alcohol to the underage party attendees, Chesshir said.

“There was no indication other than this was a horrific, out-of-mind case of stupidity,” Chesshir said. “It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. It was a horrific mistake”

Dierks had hosted other parties where she carried the rifle or a handgun to prevent fights, Chesshir said. The prosecutor said Dierks’ daughters had asked her not to have the gun out at the Jan. 23 party.

“Why would you want to have a party where you needed a firearm to make people not fight or tear up you house?” he said. “And on top, you’re serving alcohol.”

Sonia Caskey, the mother of the murder victim, read a statement in court saying she couldn’t fathom how Dierks could have made such a decision.

“Every day when I go to work, I drive by the place where my daughter was shot and killed, a place where she thought she would go to have fun, make birthday wishes, and teenager fun,” Caskey read. “Instead, she was taken from me, her family and her friends forever. I will never be able to be with her, see her smiling face or get a hug that I always looked forward to.”

Dierks turned toward the Caskey family and repeatedly apologized for her actions.

“I am so, so sorry,” she said and then started sobbing.

Ashdown attorney Mickey Buchanan, who represented Dierks, said Dierks could be eligible for parole within eight years.