Teen murder suspect pleads innocent; mental evaluation requested
The attorney for a local teen facing murder and robbery charges in the March 14 shooting death of a local man whose body was found in Hollywood Park filed a motion Monday for a mental evaluation to determine her fitness to proceed.
Alisa Kay Andry, 19, of Hot Springs, was arrested July 10 and charged with first-degree murder and aggravated robbery, each punishable by up to life in prison, for the death of Joshua Severns, 20, of Hot Springs, and remained in custody Tuesday on $100,000 bond.
Andry pleaded not guilty to both charges Monday in Garland County Circuit Court and her court-appointed attorney, Garland County Public Defender Tim Beckham, filed a motion to have her evaluated noting he has reason to believe there is a question about her fitness to proceed with trial. A hearing to determine the admissibility of any statements she made to Hot Springs police is set for Sept. 21.
Payton Jason Mann-Douthit, 18, was arrested July 9 and charged with capital murder, punishable by death or life in prison, and aggravated robbery in connection with Severns’ death. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges July 10 and indicated “he understood his family was attempting to arrange for private counsel.”
He appeared Monday in circuit court for a review hearing regarding his acquisition of an attorney, but no action was taken. Beckham appeared with him and filed a motion for discovery on his behalf at the hearing. A hearing to determine the admissibility of any statement Mann-Douthit made to police is set for Sept. 14. He remained in custody Tuesday on $500,000 bond.
Judge John Homer Wright had issued a gag order July 8 limiting pretrial publicity in the case and had ordered the cases sealed for both Mann-Douthit and Andry at the request of prosecutors on July 7. Both cases had been filed directly to circuit court on July 7, the same day warrants were issued for both suspects.
According to HSPD news releases, at around 11:38 p.m. on March 14, police responded to a report of shots fired in the area of Hollywood Park,
411 Hollywood Ave., and found Severns deceased from a gunshot wound, behind the restrooms.
During the course of the investigation, it was determined Severns left his residence on foot to meet someone and was directed to certain locations prior to making it to the park.
A Crime Stoppers reward of $1,500 had been offered for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons involved in the murder of Severns. Information about what led police to Mann-Douthit and Andry has not been released.