Before dawn on July 18, 2025, police were called to the 1300 block of North 38th Street in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Officers arrived around 4:45 a.m. and found Jerry Don “Jay” Beane Jr., a 39-year-old male, dead at the scene; what began as a death investigation was quickly classified as a homicide.
By late that same day, investigators identified a suspect and secured an arrest warrant with assistance from Sebastian County prosecutors.
Carroll County deputies located the suspect and took him into custody without incident. Police announced that no other suspects were being sought and that detectives were continuing their work.
The man arrested was identified as 25-year-old Hunter Patrick Harrell of Eureka Springs. According to police and local news reports, Harrell was booked on charges of first-degree murder and discharging a firearm from a vehicle in connection with the killing of Jerry Beane, 39. A woman who was with Harrell at the time of his arrest, 42-year-old Ashley Lensing, was taken into custody on a parole violation.
Additional reports from regional outlets described how Carroll County deputies were alerted to a man reportedly covered in blood and armed, leading them to Harrell and Lensing in Eureka Springs. Both were detained and transferred back to Fort Smith following the arrest. Subsequent coverage indicated that Harrell's custody status included a cash bond and reiterated that investigators did not believe anyone else was involved.
Public memorial notices and obituaries confirmed Jerry Don Beane Jr.'s identity, age, and the date and place of his death, and community pages that track gunfire fatalities recorded the case as a fatal shooting in Fort Smith on July 18, 2025.
