Background: News footage of the home in Bryant, Ark. where three people were found dead (KARK). Inset: Jarrod Mitchell (Bryant Police Department).
An Arkansas man was arrested hours after three members of his family were found dead of gunshot wounds in their home.
On Sunday, the Bryant Police Department shared in a couple of Facebook posts that they responded to an incident involving a man who discovered the bodies of his wife and her parents dead at their Bryant residence. This occurred around 7:30 a.m. when he returned home from work. There were three children present in the house, but they were unharmed. Later that day, authorities arrested a suspect named Jarrod Mitchell, 34 years old.
Police did not release the names of the three deceased people, but stated that they were Mitchell”s sister and parents.
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Police reported that the man who discovered the victims was married to Mitchell’s sister. Upon their arrival, officers saw no evidence of forced entry at the scene.
Mitchell faces three charges of first-degree murder and is currently held without bail at the Saline County Detention Facility. Law enforcement has not released any potential motives behind the alleged triple homicide.
According to court records, Mitchell has a history of nonviolent arrests in connection to drug charges, and was also committed to a detox facility against his will in 2017. Court records obtained by Law&Crime stated, “On 6/18/17 he threatened his mother, her husband, and his sister. He had knives laid out on the bed and one on his person.”
The petition for commitment was signed by Mitchell’s grandparents, whom he was living with at the time of the reported threats. The judge who signed off on the petition ordered Mitchell to be committed to a detox facility for no more than 21 days, stating that Mitchell is “believed to be addicted to alcohol/drugs” as well as “homicidal, suicidal, or gravely disabled.”
Mitchell is being held on $2 million bond. Local NBC affiliate KARK reported that he is expected to appear in court on Aug. 5.
