1st suspect in ’22 killing gets 25 years in prison
Hearing set for second man charged
HOT SPRINGS — The first of two suspects charged in the 2022 shooting death of a man whose body was found in a wooded area off Carpenter Dam Road was sentenced to 25 years in prison Tuesday after pleading guilty to first-degree murder.
Damonte Syless Ray Walters, 20, of Henderson, Texas, who was 18 when he was charged March 16, 2022, in the death of Ryan K. Kennedy, 43, of Hot Springs, pleaded guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to first-degree murder, punishable by up to life in prison, and was sentenced to 25 years, which was approved by the victim’s family, Deputy Prosecutor Brock Price told The Sentinel-Record Wednesday.
“The victim was missing for a few months and he was found over off Carpenter Dam Road,” Price said, noting there is a co-defendant whose charges are still pending “so I don’t want to go too deep into the facts” since a gag order was issued.
Sean Christopher Singleton, 43, of Hot Springs, was arrested in another jurisdiction and extradited to Hot Springs on Dec. 21, 2022, and is also charged with first-degree murder in Kennedy’s death and has a hearing set for Monday.
Walters was already in custody when he was charged in Kennedy’s death from his arrest on Jan. 10, 2022, when he was found in a stolen car in the same area of Carpenter Dam where Kennedy’s body was found on March 7, 2022. He has remained in custody on a $500,000 bond since being charged with murder.
He pleaded guilty on March 1, 2022, in Garland County District Court to misdemeanor charges of theft by receiving, possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting arrest and obstructing government operations in connection with the stolen vehicle incident and was sentenced to one year in jail, which has been adjudicated by time served since his arrest.
According to the probable cause affidavit for the murder charge against Walters, on Jan. 7, 2022, Kennedy had been reported missing through the Garland County sheriff’s office. In the report, it was noted Kennedy was documented as saying “some people were after him,” and he had not been heard from by his family since then.
On Jan. 10, shortly after 1:30 a.m., Hot Springs police responded to the 1400 block of Carpenter Dam Road to a gated private drive on the east side of the road for a welfare check involving a vehicle stuck in a ditch and a man dressed all in black attempting to hitchhike.
They found a white 2015 Chevrolet Cruze “stuck in a mud hole down a trail.” A computer check on the license plate revealed the car had been reported stolen out of Kilgore, Texas.
Walters was found in the driver’s seat of the car, and when officers attempted to detain him, he resisted. He was eventually taken into custody and initially gave a false name and claimed to be from Oklahoma, but he was later identified as Walters, and the Texas warrant was discovered.
Articles belonging to Kennedy were recovered from the vehicle, the affidavit said, including his wallet, driver’s license and other ID. Officers also found a glass methamphetamine pipe with residue and digital scales in the car.
On March 7, around 4 p.m., police responded to the same area again regarding a deceased person who had been found, later identified as Kennedy. In checking officers’ body and vehicle camera footage from the earlier arrest of Walters, it was determined Kennedy’s remains were just east of where the Cruze was found in some “tall grass and thick briers.”
On March 10, Walters was questioned by police after being read his rights. He stated on Jan. 10, he met with another man who asked Walters to help him get money from someone who owed him and offered to pay him some of the money in exchange for his help.
Walters said he agreed, and he and the other man went to an address on Arkansas 290 where they confronted Kennedy. Walters said the other man threatened Kennedy at gunpoint and forced him to get into a vehicle by telling him “he would shoot and kill him where he stood” if he didn’t.
Kennedy got into the front passenger seat of the Cruze as Walters drove and the other man sat in the back seat behind Walters. A third man sat in the back behind Kennedy, Walters said, and they drove to the location off Carpenter Dam.
During the drive there, Walters said the first man confronted Kennedy again about the money owed to him. Once on the private drive, Walters said the man displayed his revolver again, “leaning over towards Kennedy” and then shot him where he was seated.
Kennedy jumped out of the car and ran around the front toward the wood line. The first man exited the vehicle and continued to fire at Kennedy as he fled until Kennedy collapsed on the ground, Walters said.
At that point, Walters admitted to also firing a gun in Kennedy’s direction, the affidavit said. He said the first man walked over to where Kennedy fell and “fired several more shots” and then the first man fled the area on foot.
The affidavit notes Kennedy’s body was sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory in Little Rock for an autopsy where his death was ruled a homicide. Warrants were later issued for Walters and Singleton.
The affidavit for Singleton has not been released, so details about his alleged role in the death of Kennedy are not available. A gag order limiting pretrial publicity in the case was issued following Walters’ arrest and another one issued after Singleton’s arrest.