Second Shooting Suspect Sought; One Suspect in Custody

An Asian male is being sought in connection to the shooting of a 42-year-old Fort Smith woman early Thursday.

In a press conference Friday, Sheriff Ron Lockhart said authorities are seeking Anousith Mike Inthavong, 27, (above, top) of Fort Smith. Lockhart said a second suspect is already in custody and is in the Sebastian County Jail where he is being held without bond and awaiting extradition to Sequoyah County. The jailed suspect is Sahalat Patrick Xayavongsa, 29, (above, bottom) also of Fort Smith.

Xayavongsa was booked on assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. A warrant on the same charge has been issued for Inthavong. Inthavong is driving a 2011 silver Toyota Camry with Arkansas tag 466-SKK (see picture at end of story). The suspect is considered armed and dangerous. Lockhart said he has connections in Fayetteville and may be headed there. Anyone seeing Inthavong is asked to contact their local police immediately.

Lockhart said Xayavongsa and Inthavong are believed to be the shooters who left a 42-year-old Fort Smith woman shot and in a ditch on old Highway 64 south of Roland early Thursday.

Investigators reported the woman, identified as Melinda Stepheson, was found at about 4 a.m. Thursday when the property owner was leaving for work and saw the woman in the ditch. She was transported to a Fort Smith hospital where she underwent emergency surgery Thursday.

Lockhart said he has visited with the victim twice but she has trouble speaking due to the injuries to her lungs. Stepheson is still in intensive care and listed in guarded critical condition. Lockhart said she has four bullet holes in her upper torso.

Lockhart said the county sheriff’s department is being assisted by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, the Sallisaw Police Department and the Fort Smith Police Department, and they are working four crime scenes – the place where Stepheson was found, the place where Stepheson was shot, the location where bullets went through a home and lodged in the headboard of the sleeping resident and at the home of the jailed suspect.

Lockhart said Stepheson was not shot where she was found. It is believed she was shot about a mile away then driven to where she was found. He added that the suspect in custody “is being very helpful.”

Lockhart said he would not speculate on why Stepheson was shot since one of the suspects is not in custody and he does not want to try the case in the media. “We will not speculate on what caused the shooting. We will leave that up to a court of law,” he said.

 

Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

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