Criminal charges were filed along with warrants were issued In late April on Aaron Todd Davis, age 35, and Jessica Lindsay Davis, age 38, of Nacogdoches, TX, for forgery, theft of property and engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise according to Sharp County authorities.
In an affidavit, on April 15, Sharp County Sheriff Mark Counts and Chief Deputy Aaron Presser were informed by the Ash Flat Livestock Barn that they had received a fictitious check for cattle that they had sold earlier in April. During the investigation, it was learned that an unidentified male subject purchased 13 head of cattle during the auction, the subject claimed to be Jacob Redd. He paid for the cattle using a personal check from Paul Redd of Texarkana, TX. Chief Deputy Presser attempted to verify the information provided by Redd, but discovered that all the information was fictitious. Employees stated there was a female subject with the male subject at the time of the theft.
Later in the afternoon on April 15, it was discovered that the stolen cattle had been sold at the 101 Livestock Barn in Morrilton on April 11. Chief Deputy Presser talked to the manager of the Morrilton barn, and his description of the man that sold the cattle matched the description given by Ash Flat Livestock Company . The manager stated that the man sold 14 head of cattle and he had a female subject with him that sold an additional 13 cows. The male identified himself as Trevor P. Sells of Texarkana, TX, and the female identified herself as Sharon Brooks of Spur, TX. The 13 head of cattle sold by Brooks were identified by Mike Nix as being the same cattle stolen from the Ash Flat facility.
The male subject provided a temporary Texas ID card in the name of Sells, which did not return to Sells, but returned to a Cully Lewis, who does not match the description provided to authorities by either establishment . Law enforcement was led to believe that the ID card was also forged document. Sells also filled out a buyer/seller card with the Morrilton barn and on that document, provided bank account information that matched the fictitious check given to the Ash Flat Livestock Barn. Video footage of the suspects was provided from the Morrilton barn. The manager stated that all 27 head of cattle did have glue from where the identification numbers from another auction . He also advised Counts and Presser that his bank had called and the two individuals had came into the bank on April 11 and cashed both checks. Brooks’ check for the 13 stolen cattle was for $8,339.87 and Sells’ check was for $7,513.87.
Bank authorities advised law enforcement that the suspects provided IDs verifying their names as they were on the checks. The bank also made both provide an inked fingerprint onto the checks.
On April 17, Presser spoke with an investigator from the Arkansas Department of Agriculture and he advised he had made contact with Texas Ranger Brent Mast who advised he had been working on a similar case in Texas and described the subjects, which matched the descriptions of the suspects in the cases in Arkansas. Black then sent Mast the suspects photos, and he verified that they were the same subjects.
Mast identified them as Aaron Todd Davis and Jessica Lindsay Davis. He informed Black that on or around April 8, the Davis’ had been interviewed by Rangers and that they admitted to forgery/cattle theft in Texas. They were allowed to leave, but were told to try to pay the sale barn in Texas back before their pending arrest. Chief Deputy Presser showed pictures of the Davis’ to the staff at the Ash Flat Livestock Barn and they confirmed that it was the same people that had stolen their cattle. Black also notified Presser that he had been made aware of a case at Benton County Stockyards in which the Davis’ had purchased 14 head of cattle with a fictitious check as well. These 14 cattle were the same ones sold at the 101 Livestock Barn in Morrilton with the cattle from Ash Flat.
The Davis’ were apprehended by Texas Rangers on April 29 and expedited to Arkansas on April 30. They both remain in Sharp County Jail on $10,000 cash only bonds and are scheduled to appear in court June 23.