Gosnell man found guilty of girl’s rape

BLYTHEVILLE — A Mississippi County Circuit Court jury found a Gosnell man guilty Thursday of rape of an 11-year-old girl whose body was found in a ditch last year.

Circuit Judge Cindy Thyer sentenced Freddie Sharp III, 29, to 25 years in prison Thursday evening.

Sharp was charged with rape Jan. 15 in connection with the investigation into the death of Jessica Williams. Police found Jessica’s body floating in a ditch near East Mississippi County Road 122 on Aug. 28, 2013.

Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington said after Sharp was arrested that state Crime Laboratory medical examiners recovered DNA on Jessica’s body and matched it to DNA obtained from Sharp.

Police also arrested Christopher Sowell, 18, of Gosnell in August 2013 and charged him with first-degree murder. Sowell first admitted to walking with Jessica, whom he lived near, down a road and pushing her when she angered him. He said Jessica said she would tell her father that Sowell hurt her, and Sowell admitted he then choked her and threw her off a bridge.

He later told police he did not kill the girl.

Sowell was released from the Mississippi County jail in Luxora on $25,000 bond Jan. 10.

A pretrial hearing will be held for Sowell in Mississippi County Circuit Court in Blytheville on Jan. 5.