Police find murder suspect stuck in home’s chimney

March to draw awareness to spike in violence

A man suspected of stabbing his wife’s boyfriend to death was captured this morning after getting stuck inside a chimney at a local residence.

Elliott Stewart, 35, Forrest City, was taken into custody after police and fire departments were called to a home on Sue Ann Drive.

Officials at the scene said the residents of the home could hear someone calling for help before realizing the noise was coming from their chimney, at which point they notified authorities.

The non-working fireplace had been capped off inside to prevent animals from being able to enter the structure, according to officials. The insert also blocked Stewart’s access to the home, causing him to get stuck. Once the insert was removed, Stewart continued through the chimney, into the home where police were waiting to take him into custody.

The murder occurred just before 4 a.m., at 1514 Albert Street, the residence Stewart shared with his wife, Walnesha Stewart, 24.

According to the police report, Walnesha Stewart told police she, her husband and Jimmie Rogers, 28, Forrest City, were together in the living room “kicking it,” when she and Rogers went into a rear bedroom and closed the door. She said her husband came to the door and asked if they were having sex before he “kicked in the door and started stabbing” Rogers.

As police arrived at the scene, officers reportedly saw Stewart running from the house.

Inside the home, they found Rogers suffering from several stab wounds, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers recovered a knife blade, with no handle, that was covered in blood.

Rogers’ murder is the second to occur in Forrest City this year and comes on the eve of a march designed to bring community awareness to an increase in violence across the city.

The first murder this year occurred on Feb. 27 when Demetrius Bernard Tripp, 31, of Forrest City, died from a single gunshot wound to the chest that he suffered during a shootout in the Chapel Ridge Apartment Complex. Dennis Scott, 25, Forrest City, was also shot in that incident. At the time, police said it appeared as though the two men had been shooting at one another.

The Forrest City Police Department has a Stop the Violence march planned for Saturday. The march will begin at 11 a.m., at Mustang Arena and travel into the Beech Grove neighborhood before ending at the Civic Center.

Katie West • Times-Herald A man sought by police in an early-morning murder was captured about 8 a.m., after getting stuck in a chimney at a residence on Sue Ann Drive. In the top photo, Forrest City Police Department Criminal Investigation Division Lt. Eric Varner escorts a handcuffed Elliott Stewart, 35, of Forrest City, to a police car so he could be taken to the FCPD for questioning in the murder of Jimmie Rogers, 28, also of Forrest City. Rogers was stabbed to death at Stewart’s home on Albert Street about 4 a.m., police reported. As officers arrived at the scene, Stewart fled, but was caught a few hours later when homeowners called police to report they could hear someone calling for help from the chimney of their home. At right, firemen discuss the plan to rescue Stewart as police officers inside the home wait to see if he makes it down the chimney.