Shawna Rhae Cash was convicted of capital murder on Feb. 8, 2024, for fatally dragging Police Officer Kevin Apple 149 feet with an SUV. (Screenshot: KHBS; image: Pea Ridge Police Department)
Jurors in Benton County, Arkansas, convicted a woman of capital murder for dragging a police officer 149 feet while fleeing cops. Now Shawna Rhae Cash, 25, faces the death penalty and her defense is fighting to save her from execution in an ongoing penalty phase.
Prosecutor Joshua Robinson told jurors that she had a history of fleeing officers, including leading Farmington cops in a high-speed pursuit in 2020, and months later, running from Fayetteville police, according to Fort Smith ABC/CW Plus affiliate KHBS.
“Cash is more experienced with high-speed chases than the officer chasing her,” he said.
A man testified that someone in a Jeep Cherokee took mail out of his mailbox, according to KHBS. This ultimately led to a police chase. Cash was driving the suspect SUV while Elijah Michael Andazola, 21, was a passenger. Pea Ridge Police Officer Kevin Apple and another officer found them at a local convenience store.
“Camera footage obtained from the White Oak Gas Station depicts the suspect vehicle parked at the gas pumps when a Pea Ridge Patrol car, driven by Officer Apple, pulled up in front of the suspect vehicle (facing it directly) while another Pea Ridge Patrol car, driven by Officer [Brian] Stamps, pulled up directly behind it,” a redacted affidavit of probable cause for bond explains.
Apple stood in front of the vehicle, his weapon drawn, repeatedly yelling, “Don’t do it!” Cash accelerated.
From court documents:
The camera footage did not have audio but appeared as though Officer Apple was attempting to verbally engage with Cash and Andazola. Seven seconds after Officer Apple exited his vehicle, Shawna Cash accelerated backwards; slamming into Officer Stamps’ vehicle. It appeared Officer Apple drew his service weapon and approached the front of the suspect vehicle; standing directly in front of it. Approximately three seconds later, Shawna Cash rapidly accelerated straight forward; striking Officer Apple. Officer Apple was carried on the front of the suspect vehicle for several feet until Cash steered slightly to the right; striking the front left-side of Officer Apple’s patrol car, pinning him between the two vehicles. As Cash continued to accelerate, Officer Apple was dragged underneath Cash’s vehicle. The vehicle accelerated out of camera view while still dragging Officer Apple underneath.
Shortly after her arrest, Cash voiced an apology to nearby reporters and said she did not mean to kill him.
Shawna Rhae Cash and Elijah Michael Andazola are seen in jail mugshots.
The police department, the community, and family mourned Apple deeply.
“To the Citizens of Pea Ridge and surrounding communities. It is with a full and humble heart that I wish to express my gratitude for the love and support my family and I have received over the last several months since my son, Officer Kevin Apple, was taken from us,” his mother, Dalene Hart, said in a statement that the police department published on Oct. 27, 2021. “As a parent, the void I have felt since Kevin’s passing is unexplainable. I think of and miss Kevin everyday as I know his fellow brothers and sisters in law enforcement do. Kevin is gone and nothing can bring him back, however; I still would like to see justice served and I believe in our criminal justice system. The support from the community has been positively overwhelming to say the least. It warms my heart and soul to see all the blue lights on porches and 1212 signs in yards and on vehicles, not only in Pea Ridge, but in surrounding communities as well. I wanted to write this note to the people of Pea Ridge to publicly thank you from the bottom of my heart for the emotional and financial support you have given me over the past several months. I know Kevin will not ever be forgotten and his memory will live on within law enforcement and the people of the community he loved and served.”
1212 was Apple’s badge number.
“Fallen Officer Kevin Apple, Badge #1212, is remembered by many for his great sense of humor and the delight he took in brightening someone’s day,” they wrote Dec. 9, 2023. “For us, he might be remembered best for his practical jokes and the laughter that followed! Always the prankster. We miss him dearly.”
Now that the case is in its penalty phase, the defense is bring forth evidence that Cash lived an extremely rough life.
The defense presented evidence and testimony of her living a hard life, with step-grandfather molesting her, said her other brother, Christopher Cash, in emotional testimony, according to KHBS.
The defense reportedly had Christopher Cash read from a report in which his sister, then 12, described that she did not feel safe because of her mother’s drinking and missing school to care for her.
The capital murder case against Andazola is ongoing.
