Murder suspect recently treated for drug, mental issues, documents show

A man arrested Friday in a fatal shooting in Pope County had been committed for psychiatric and drug treatment in Little Rock last month after overdosing on methamphetamine and swallowing drain cleaner, according to court documents.

A judge in Russellville set bail at $250,000 for Nathaniel Z. Symonds, 19, of Dover at a probable cause hearing Monday. Symonds was being held in the Pope County jail on a charge of first-degree murder.

Symonds is accused of shooting Ronald Dean Esserman Jr., 42, of Dover with a shotgun Friday afternoon on Oak Meadows Road in Dover, about 10 miles north of Russellville.

A probable cause statement by Pope County sheriff’s office Lt. Jacob Yarbrough said officers were called to 245 Oak Meadows Road, where they found Esserman dead of apparent gunshot wounds in the front yard of a mobile home. Symonds was found in a home down the street and arrested.

According to the statement, Symonds told investigators that Esserman attacked him, hitting and kicking him until Symonds was able to get away.

Symonds went to his grandfather’s home about 100 yards away and got a shotgun, the statement said. He walked back toward the mobile home and fired a warning shot in the air. Symonds told deputies that he encountered Esserman in the front yard of the mobile home and shot him.

“He said the victim fell to the ground and exclaimed ‘I’m gonna die.’ [Symonds] said the victim began to crawl away from him and [Symonds] shot him several more times. [Symonds] said he then walked up to the victim and shot him in the head,” Yarbrough’s statement said.

Prosecuting Attorney David Gibbons said he believed formal charges would be filed against Symonds in two or three weeks.