Suspect in Arkansas real estate agent's murder pleads not guilty

The body of Beverly Carter was found buried at a concrete business near Little Rock early Tuesday morning.

|
Pulaski County (Ark.) Sheriff's Office/REUTERS
Aaron Michael Lewis, 33, is seen in a booking photo from the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office in Little Rock, Arkansas. Lewis, an Arkansas prison parolee, has been charged with capital murder after police found the body of 49-year-old Beverly Carter on Tuesday in a Little Rock suburb. Lewis had admitted to kidnapping Carter but would not divulge her body's location, Minden said.

A man accused of abducting and killing a real estate agent in rural Arkansas pleaded not guilty Tuesday to preliminary charges of kidnapping and capital murder, hours after the woman's body was discovered in a shallow grave.

Arron Michael Lewis appeared in court Tuesday and pleaded not guilty to one count each of capital murder, kidnapping and robbery, as well as four weapons charges, according to the office of Pulaski County District Judge Wayne Gruber.

Early Tuesday morning, investigators found the body of Beverly Carter, 49, at Argos Concrete Company in a rural area about 25 miles northeast of Little Rock and more than 20 miles away from Scott, where she had an appointment to show a house Thursday but hadn't been seen since.

Pulaski County Sheriff's Office Lt. Carl Minden said Lewis admitted to kidnapping Carter but did not lead authorities to her body. He said investigators received a tip that led them to the concrete company where Carter's body was found.

Lewis previously worked for the concrete company, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Tuesday. Lewis, 33, was being held on $1 million bail in the Pulaski County jail.

Lewis spoke briefly to reporters Tuesday morning as he was taken from the jail to the sheriff's office, where he was interviewed again after spending more than 12 hours with investigators Monday.

When asked by reporters why Carter was targeted, Lewis responded: "Because she was just a woman that worked alone — a rich broker." He denied killing her.

Police haven't said how investigators linked Lewis to Carter's disappearance, but Sheriff Doc Holladay said more details will be released at a Tuesday afternoon news conference.

"I just want to express my condolences to the Carter family and her friends who have worked so hard to find her and these investigators who were committed to finding her," Holladay told reporters Tuesday morning.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Suspect in Arkansas real estate agent's murder pleads not guilty
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2014/0930/Suspect-in-Arkansas-real-estate-agent-s-murder-pleads-not-guilty
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe