Suspect in alleged stabbing spree booked into jail

A Missouri woman who was arrested July 13 after an alleged two-county stabbing spree that reportedly started at a construction site in Garland County was booked into the Garland County Detention Center on a felony assault charge Tuesday.

Jeannine Marie Downin, 50, who lists a Cole Camp, Mo., address, was reportedly taken into custody at 5:44 p.m. on July 13 in the 2200 block of East Grand Avenue after her vehicle was forced off the road by Arkansas State Police during a pursuit. She was critically injured as a result of the wreck, and transported to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs.

Downin was released from the hospital Tuesday and booked into the jail at 2:59 p.m. on a felony charge of aggravated assault, punishable by up to six years in prison, which was filed on the day of the incident. She remained in custody Wednesday on a zero bond by order of Garland County Circuit Court Judge Lynn Williams. Saline County also has a hold on her.

According to a probable cause affidavit obtained Wednesday, on July 13, the Garland County 911 dispatcher received a call in reference to an assault that had occurred at the intersection of Highway 128 and East Grand Avenue (Highway 70 east).

Three men were reportedly working at a construction site for a new Big Red Valero at that location when a blue car pulled into the parking lot and parked, one of the men told deputies.

After a few minutes, the female driver, later identified as Downin, got out of the car and approached the men. She walked up to one of the men, identified as Gilberto Martinez, age not listed, and allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the arm and hand. She then got back in her car and left the property.

One of the other men followed Downin in his vehicle into Saline County where she stopped at the Big Red Valero at 11580 Highway 70 in Benton. Once there, Downin allegedly stabbed two other individuals, the affidavit said.

According to a news release from the Saline County Sheriff ’s Office obtained July 14, Downin stabbed a man in the chest while he was airing up a tire. Then she reportedly stabbed a female employee of the Valero in the upper arm outside the store before fleeing the scene.

All three stabbing victims were reportedly treated at hospitals and later released, the release said.

After fleeing from the Benton Valero, Downin allegedly approached a private residence on Crossroads in Saline County and attempted to stab another female before fleeing again on Highway 70 back into Garland County, the release said.

Downin has reportedly been charged with two counts of first-degree battery and one count of aggravated assault stemming from the two stabbings and the attempted stabbing in Saline County.

The local affidavit said Garland County sheriff’s deputies made contact with Downin on East Grand Avenue after her return to Garland County, but she fled from them. Arkansas State Police were asked to assist and a trooper performed a Precision Immobilization Technique, or PIT, maneuver causing Downin’s vehicle to overturn and she was taken into custody.

The wreck occurred off the side of the service road near Ferrellgas, 2250 E. Grand, at around 5:43 p.m., according to earlier reports.

Downin had reportedly tried to purchase a firearm within the two weeks prior to July 13, but was denied, the Saline County release said.

No motive for the alleged attacks was indicated in either the affidavit obtained Wednesday or the earlier release.