Killing of Sherwood man nets 60 years
A second person has been convicted in the 2007 shooting death of a Sherwood man and was sentenced to 60 years with the Arkansas Department of Correction.
Terrance Rhodes, 23, of Little Rock was tried Tuesday in Saline County Circuit Court. Circuit Judge Gary Arnold presided in the jury trial.
Rhodes was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery in conjunction with the Aug. 5, 2007, robbery and shooting in Benton of 24-year-old Nick Jones, who later died at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. Eddie Dixon Jr., 19, of North Little Rock was a passenger in the vehicle with Jones when the shooting occurred, but was not injured.
Montrell Ventry, 18, of Benton who was also involved in the crime, was sentenced to 10 years with the Arkansas Department of Correction in April 2008.
Rhodes and Ventry are two of four persons charged in the incident.
Both Dixon and Jones told Benton police on Aug. 5, 2007, that they drove to Benton to meet a friend, later identified as Sultaanah Siddiq, 15, of Benton, who gave them directions to a secluded location on Neeley Street.
According to Jones and Dixon, when they arrived at the location, three black men ordered them out of the vehicle, robbed them at gunpoint and shot Jones in the face. The three men then fled the scene in Jones’ vehicle.
A local resident reportedly called Benton police to report that Jones was lying on the porch at 706 Palm St., with a gunshot wound to his face.
On Aug. 6, 2007, Sultaanah Siddiq was questioned by Benton police and revealed that the three men involved in the crime were Ventry, Rhodes and a juvenile, Mohammed Siddiq of Benton. Jones’ vehicle was later 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.
The Arkansas Crime Lab later determined the bullet removed from Jones had been fired by the 9 mm handgun.
In April, Dixon testified that Jones drove him to Benton to see his girlfriend, Sultannah Saddiq, who gave them directions via a cell phone. He said Sultannah Saddiq gave him directions to a dark, isolated area where they were later flagged down. Dixon said when they arrived at that location, three men jumped out of the bushes and ordered them to the ground at gunpoint. He said they were then ordered to take off their clothes, kneel on the ground and 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 Detention Center.
Officer Phillip Peckham of the White Hall Police Department also testified in a Saline County Circuit court trial in April that he stopped Ventry and Rhodes in Jones’ vehicle for having no license plate displayed on the vehicle and for driving erratically. He told the jury that when he stopped the vehicle, Ventry, who was driving, ran from him. Peckham said that when Ventry was caught, he began to “rap” about being a soldier and a Blood gang member and stated that he would “burn in hell” for shooting someone in the head.
Ventry, who appeared in court on Tuesday, also faces charges of escape and second-degree battery for fleeing a Saline County Detention Center van on Oct. 8, 2007. Lt. Hugh Gentry, jail supervisor, said Ventry escaped as he was returning from a hearing at Benton District Court and the van was preparing to turn off Neeley Street in the the jail driveway.
“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.”
On Tuesday, statements Rhodes told Benton police and a psychologist were released to Judge Arnold and the jury. Rhodes reportedly saidhe joined Ventry, Sultaanah Siddiq and Mohammed Siddiq, who all agreed to rob Dixon and Jones. He said that although he knew Ventry was armed and that the weapon was to be used in the robbery, he was surprised when Ventry shot Jones.
Mohammad Siddiq is scheduled to appear in juvenile court on June 17 on a charge of capital murder. Sultannah Siddiq is scheduled to appear in a Saline County Circuit Court on July 31 on adult charges of capital murder and aggravated robbery.
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