Man held in Fort Smith killing

FORT SMITH — A homeless man was being held in the Sebastian County jail Monday in lieu of $50,000 bond after he was arrested over the weekend as a suspect in a fatal shooting.

Christopher Neil Walker, 34, is suspected of shooting 27-year-old Ethan Meagley on Thursday night outside the River Valley Inn at 5103 Towson Ave., police said. Another man, Noah Bell, 19, is suspected of being involved in the shooting, Fort Smith police spokesman Cpl. Anthony Rice said. He wouldn’t expand on Bell’s involvement because of the ongoing investigation.

Walker was arrested about 10 p.m. Saturday near the Garrison Pointe Market convenience store at 415 Garrison Ave., Rice said. Walker was not armed when he was arrested. Rice wouldn’t comment on whether police had recovered the gun used in the shooting.

Walker was booked into the county jail on a warrant issued Friday charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Police were called to the River Valley Inn about 6:45 p.m. Thursday on a complaint of a drunk man lying in the motel’s parking lot. When officers arrived, they found Meagley had been shot once. He was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to a police news release.

Investigators learned there was some type of altercation in the parking lot during which Meagley was shot, the release said.

Police began searching for Walker. Bell was located and arrested on an aggravated robbery charge and two unrelated county warrants. None of the charges against Bell were related to the shooting at the River Valley Inn, the release said.