A local man arrested earlier this year on multiple felony charges after eluding capture by Hot Springs police multiple times was sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday after pleading no contest to one of the charges in Garland County Circuit Court.
John Colton Childs, 20, who has remained in custody since his arrest Feb. 23, pleaded guilty to one count of residential burglary, reduced from an original charge of aggravated residential burglary, while additional felony counts of aggravated robbery and second-degree battery were withdrawn.
"Upon first being appointed to represent (Childs), I reviewed both of his cases and it appeared clear the aggravated robbery charge lacked evidence to convict my client," Childs' attorney, Brent Miller, said Wednesday.
The aggravated residential burglary charge "did not have the stoutest proof," but with the offer to reduce the charge Childs "didn't want to run the risk of being convicted and facing up to life in prison" so he opted to plead no contest, Miller said. "All things considered, the result was agreeable to my client."
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Joe Graham said Wednesday charges were still pending against other suspects in the incidents and there was a gag order issued so he couldn't comment on the facts of the case but noted there were "some proof issues" with Childs and "the risk of acquittal was the reason the plea was taken."
According to the affidavit on the aggravated residential burglary, on March 22, 2017, shortly before 4:30 a.m., a juvenile victim told police four males forced their way into his residence on Emory Street. Once inside, one suspect, later identified as Childs, pointed a handgun at him and his 10-year-old sister and yelled, "Where's the money at?"
Then a second known suspect pointed a handgun at the victim and said, "Talk (expletive) now (expletive)!" The victim said he told him, "Please, man, not in front of my little sister." He said the suspects took their focus off him long enough for him to grab his little sister and run out the door to a neighbor's house.
The victim's mother provided police with security video showing four males approaching the residence. The victim noted he and one of the suspects had a prior conflict with each other.
On April 8, two adults and three juvenile suspects were arrested on unrelated charges. On April 14, one of the juveniles was interviewed and asked about several recent violent incidents including the Emory Street incident.
The juvenile said he had seen the security footage from the Emory incident on Facebook and Childs had told him about it. He said Childs told him he wanted to do "a mission" and went there with three other suspects.
Childs told him they knocked on the door about 10 times to see if anyone was home. When they decided the residence was empty, they knocked down the security camera, pulled out their guns, kicked the door in and went inside.
After making entry, they discovered there were people inside. The description Childs gave of the male they found inside matched that of the juvenile victim on Emory and he noted the other person was "a little girl."
Childs reportedly claimed he didn't point his gun at the girl, but he did point it at the male juvenile. The witness said Childs referred to the incident as a "blank mission" because they panicked when they saw the girl and did not take anything. They then ran to a nearby parking lot and fled the area in their vehicle.
Still frames from the video were shown to the witness, who identified three of the suspects, including Childs, and warrants were issued.
According to the affidavit on the aggravated robbery and battery charges, on Jan. 11, 2017, police responded to Childs' Cones Road residence in reference to a robbery and were told by the male victim, 52, that five to six young males had attacked him and stolen his wallet while he was in the front yard of the residence.
Childs' mother told police she witnessed the attack and all of the males involved were friends with her son.
The victim stated he had arrived at the residence and exited his truck when one of the males called him "a (expletive)" and then he was attacked. He said he was struck in the head and fell to the ground, and five to six males then began to hit him in his head and kick him in the torso before fleeing the scene with his wallet.
On April 28, one of the suspects was questioned and reportedly said Childs had participated in the attack along with the others, hitting the victim multiple times, and then fled with the others.
Childs was one of seven male suspects, including four juveniles, being sought by police for "numerous violent felony acts." The other six were arrested May 9, 2017, while Childs remained at large until his arrest on Feb. 23.
Police had asked for the public's help in locating Childs, described as "armed and dangerous," and he was featured on the department's social media multiple times culminating with a reward being offered which led to his capture.
Local on 08/16/2018