Man charged in fatal shooting in Hot Springs | The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

HOT SPRINGS — A man was arrested early Wednesday on a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of another man who was killed during an altercation in Hot Springs hours earlier, according to an arrest affidavit.

Dalton Caleb Childs, 24, of Hot Springs, was arrested at the scene of the shooting shortly before 2:30 a.m. and was later charged with first-degree murder, which carries a life sentence.

Childs, who lists no prior criminal offenses, was held on bail and the case was filed directly in Garland County District Court around 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Childs was scheduled to have a hearing in Garland County District Court on Sept. 20. A news gag order was imposed shortly after the case was filed to limit publicity about the case before trial.

According to the affidavit, Hot Springs police responded to the 1300 block of Central Avenue at approximately 2:21 a.m. for a shooting and arrived to find an unconscious black man named Nicholas Bland, 43, lying in the front yard “with numerous gunshot wounds” and holding a 9 mm pistol.

“Life-saving measures were administered” until LifeNet transported Bland to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs, where he succumbed to his injuries. Officers found empty 9mm cartridges on Hagen Street, just north of the crime scene on Central Street.

A suspect named Childs was observed lying on the ground unharmed with a 9mm weapon next to him. He was arrested and taken to the police station for questioning.

After being read his rights, Childs said he was sitting with a 22-year-old woman on the front steps of an apartment building in the 1300 block of Central before the shooting, police said. He said Bland, whom he did not know, was on the sidewalk of Central and was walking south on Hagen Street, police said.

Childs claimed Bland called him a derogatory racist name and walked toward the house, police said. Childs admitted to pulling his gun from his pants, loading a round and leaving the porch to go into the yard, at which point Bland pulled out a firearm, police said.

Childs “admitted taking this course of action rather than entering the house and retreating,” the affidavit states, and admitted to shooting Bland after he “got too close” to him. The affidavit states Childs had the opportunity to “flee in any direction away from the house (which is not his) but did not do so,” according to his own testimony and that of “all other witnesses.”

When asked what he thought would have happened if he had never drawn his gun, Childs replied, “The victim would not have died,” police said.

According to the woman, she and Childs were on the porch when Bland, who she knows, approached the house and asked her, “What's up, honey?” She said Childs and Bland got into an argument, and Childs left the porch and went to Bland. She said at some point she noticed both men were armed.

She said she felt Childs was “paranoid” and that contributed to him shooting Bland, police said. When asked if she believed Bland was there to hurt her, she said that was not the case and that Childs “escalated the situation more than necessary,” police said.

She said both men were “aggressive,” but “neither of them was actively pursuing the other,” police said.

A second witness, who also watched “the majority of the incident” from the porch, said he saw that both Childs and Bland were armed and that Childs “walked toward Hagen Street” with his gun, according to police. The witness said he “encouraged” Childs to come back to him and give him the gun “to de-escalate the situation.”

He said he was standing behind Bland and it appeared that Bland's arms were “hanging at his sides,” police said. He said he did not notice any “obvious movement” by Bland with his gun toward Childs and that Childs began shooting at Bland “for an unknown reason,” police said.

The affidavit states that at the time of the shooting, Bland was in the front yard of the Central Street residence and Childs was standing on Hagen Street.