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By Matt Burks
Courier Staff Montrell Ventry, 18, of Benton was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the shooting death last year of a Sherwood man.
Ventry also was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the aggravated robbery of Nick Jones, who was 24 when he was killed on Neely Street in Benton.
Saline County Circuit Court Judge Gary Arnold followed the jury’s recommendation in sentencing Ventry, who was 17 when the crimes were committed on Aug. 5, 2007.
The jury deliberated for several hours before issuing a guilty verdict against Ventry late Tuesday.
According to testimony, Ventry and three other Benton residents robbed Jones prior to shooting him. The other suspects are scheduled for trial later.
Jones cousin’ Eddie Dixon Jr. of North Little Rock, told Benton police that he was with Jones on Aug. 5 when the two drove to meet Sultaanah Siddiq, 15, who gave them directions to the Neely Street location. Jones and Dixon told police that when they arrived, three black men ordered them out of the vehicle, robbed them at gunpoint and shot Jones in the face.
The men fled the scene in the victim’s vehicle and Jones was later found lying on a porch at 706 Palm St. with a gunshot wound to his face. Jones was shot on Neely Street but apparently made his way to the residence on nearby Palm Street, authorities said.
Siddiq was questioned by Benton police on Aug. 6 and said the three men involved in the crime were Ventry, Terrence Rhodes, 22, and Mohammed Siddiq, a juvenile. Detectives learned that Jones’ stolen vehicle was recovered in White Hall with Ventry and Rhodes inside and in possession of a 9 mm handgun believed to be used in the murder of Jones.
Benton detectives said evidence shows that Sultaanah Siddiq, Ventry, Rhodes and Mohammed Siddiq went to the location on Neeley Street on Aug. 5 with the intention of robbing Jones and Dixon of their money so they could later purchase drugs.
Jones later died at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. Ventry, Sultaanah Siddiq and Rhodes were charged as adults by Saline County Prosecuting Attorney Ken Casady. Muhammad Siddiq is being held on juvenile charges of capital murder.
On Tuesday, Dixon testified that Jones drove him to Benton to see Dixon’s girlfriend. Sultaanah Siddiq gave them directions over a cell phone. He said when they were approached by the men, he and Jones were ordered to take off their clothes, kneel on the ground and told to crawl on their knees toward a building. Dixon said that he looked back once and saw his cousin kneeling on the ground with his hands in the air and soon heard two shots before the men left in Jones’ car. He testified that he could not find his cousin in the dark so he left the area and ran toward the nearest lighted building, which was the Saline County jail.
Officer Phillip Peckham of the Whitehall Police Department testified on Tuesday that on Aug. 6, he stopped Ventry and Rhodes in Jones’ vehicle for having no license plate displayed and for driving erratically. He told the jury that when he stopped the vehicle, Ventry, who was driving, ran from him. When Ventry was caught, Peckham said he began to “rap” about being a soldier, a Blood gang member and stated that he would “burn in hell” for shooting someone in the head.
Benton police Detective Chris Shaw testified that after Ventry’s arrest, he took a videotaped statement from Ventry, who confessed to participating in the scheme with the three others to rob the victims. The jury viewed the video in which Ventry also admitted that he shot Jones.
Casady commended Deputy Prosecutors Chris Walton and Rebecca Bush for their work on the case.
“Our office had a good case because of the hard work of (Shaw) and patrol officers Robertson and Peckham,” Casady said Wednesday.
Ventry is also scheduled to appear in Saline County Circuit Court at a later date on charges of escape and second-degree battery after he fled a Saline County Detention Center van on Oct. 8, 2007. Lt. Hugh Gentry, jail supervisor, said Ventry was returning from a hearing at Benton District Court and as the van prepared to turn off Neeley Street in the the jail driveway, Ventry escaped.
“Ventry crossed the [railroad] tracks,” Gentry said, “but we had several people after him and they got him hemmed in pretty quickly. He was free less than 30 minutes.”
Sultaanah Siddiq is scheduled to appear in Saline County Circuit Court before Judge Arnold on May 1 at 1:30 p.m. for a pre-trial hearing on adult charges of capital murder and aggravated robbery.
Rhodes is scheduled to appear in Saline County Circuit Court before Judge Arnold on July 7 on charges of capital murder and two counts of aggravated robbery.
Mohammad Siddiq is scheduled to appear in juvenile court on June 17 on a charge of capital murder.
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