Inset: Charity Beallis (Facebook). Background: The home in Bonanza, Arkansas, where Beallis and her two children were found shot to death (KFSM).
In Arkansas, officials are delving into the tragic shooting deaths of a woman and her two children at their residence, amidst the final stages of her divorce proceedings.
The Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office shared in a statement that officers responded to a welfare check at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday. They visited a home on the 1100 block of 1st Avenue in Bonanza, a small town located along the Arkansas-Oklahoma border. Upon arrival, officers received no response when they knocked at the door.
Two individuals employed at the residence allowed the officers entry, where they discovered 40-year-old Charity Beallis and her two children.
“It was clear that the three had sustained gunshot wounds,” the officers reported.
Autopsies are scheduled to officially determine the causes of death for the victims.
“Search warrants have been issued and executed, with additional warrants expected as the investigation continues. Interviews have been conducted, with more to follow. We are actively gathering information,” the deputies stated.
Cops did not identify the two kids who both were about 6 years old.
While no arrests have been made, local media outlets report that Beallis and her husband were in the midst of a divorce. She and her husband, a local doctor, had just attended a court hearing two days before she and her two children were found dead. On Wednesday — the same day she and her kids were found dead — her husband’s lawyer filed a motion to dismiss the case.
Local CBS affiliate KFSM obtained court documents that said Beallis’ husband was arrested in February for choking his wife in front of their children. He pleaded guilty to third-degree battery in October and received a one-year suspended sentence and was ordered to pay over $1,500 in fines.
Charity Beallis filed for divorce in March and used the incident as a reason for her to have sole custody of her kids. It’s unclear if she received that as part of the divorce settlement.
In August, she posted the following comment to an unrelated KFSM news story on Facebook, according to the TV station.
I’m living this battle right now. I am the victim, yet I’ve been treated like the problem while the criminal — a local doctor — is being shielded by the very system that’s supposed to protect us.
I’ve tried to reach Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Shue, but he won’t even accept a letter from me. My voice, as the victim, has been shut out.
This is not just about me — this is about a system that protects offenders and rejects victims. Lives are at stake, including the lives of young children.
Charity Beallis’ father said he believes her husband is responsible for her death.
“There’s nobody else in the world that had any reason to harm her or those babies but him,” said Randy Powell. “And that was only for the financial gain and the hatred he had.”
