One of the lawyers for a Mountain Home man facing the death penalty for his involvement in the murder of then 35-year-old Cody Stradford has filed 37 motions in the case.
A trial for 30-year-old Ryan James Lindsey is scheduled to begin August 21.
The motions filed by Lindsey’s attorney, Bobby Diggs, II of Benton, include requests to:
–Not allow victim impact statements or, in the alternative, to conduct a pre-trial review of the statements expected to be made to determine if the jury will be allowed to hear them.
–Find Arkansas’ death penalty unconstitutional as cruel and unusual punishment.
–Prohibit displays of emotion, approval or disapproval and other prejudicial behavior in the courtroom.
–Suppress some evidence found at the site of the murder based on allegations that Lindsey did not voluntarily give police permission to do a search.
–Work out a way where jurors do not see the family and friends of the victim when coming and going from the courtroom.
–Allow Lindsey to appear in court in civilian clothing and unrestrained.
–Prevent the state or its agents from attempting to covertly elicit information, evidence or statements from Lindsey prior to trial by “double celling” or other means.
THE MURDER
Stradford was killed in early December 2020 after allegedly being lured to a house along Cresswell Drive in Mountain Home.
Not long after he entered what was described as a walk-out basement, Lindsey and 40-year-old Skylar Brazil are alleged to have started beating him.
His body was found in a burned-out car several days after the violent and ultimately deadly encounter at the Cresswell Drive residence.
Four people are charged in connection with the murder. In addition to Lindsey and Brazil, 44-year-old Allison Cunningham and 37-year-old Ashley Hendricks were alleged to have been involved in the crime.
Investigative reports show that the two females “stood by and watched” the beating.
All the suspects listed Mountain Home addresses except Hendricks who lives in Siloam Springs.
Investigative records do not contain information as to how the four people came together. It was mentioned that Brazil and Hendricks had both lived in Siloam Springs at one time.
Lindsey and Brazil are both inmates in the state prison system serving time on earlier charges. Allison and Hendricks are being held in county jails.
In addition to charges stemming from the Baxter County murder, Hendricks also has criminal cases open in Madison and Benton Counties.
The death penalty is being sought for Lindsey and Cunningham.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Stradford was beaten for up to an hour by Lindsey and Brazil.
He was reported to have begged for the attack to end. Several people, reported to be minors, who were in the upper part of the house, told investigators they heard a male “asking for help and pleading for the beating to stop.”
The witnesses, who were told not to come downstairs by Brazil and Lindsey, told investigators they went outside and looked through the windows of the walk out basement.
They reported seeing Lindsey and Brazil physically attacking Stradford. At one point, Lindsey was alleged to have pointed a handgun at Stradford.
Hendricks is alleged to have said that Stradford attempted to rape her after giving her a “controlled substance” at some unspecified time.
Investigative reports do note that Stradford was alleged to have said at one point during the attack, “I did not do that,” indicating some sort of accusation may have been made against him.
Stradford’s body was placed in his own vehicle, a silver Dodge Charger, and driven by Lindsey to a wooded area where it was set on fire.
Allison is alleged to have followed Lindsey and to have brought him back to the residence on Cresswell.
The burned-out car containing Stradford’s body was found about eight days after the alleged beating took place.
The body was positively identified as Stradford’s by the State Medical Examiner’s Office.
One by one, the suspects were rounded up in a fairly short period of time.
Brazil was holed up in a local motel. He tried to flee when officers arrived but was located hiding in weeds by a canine tracking team from the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
Hendricks was arrested at her home in Siloam Springs.
Lindsey and Cunningham were taken into custody in south Texas near the U.S./Mexico border on December 17, 2020, and returned to Baxter County. Lindsey was driving a black BMW Z4 convertible, reported to have been stolen in Baxter County. Cunningham was in another vehicle. Information provided to KTLO by the Texas Department of Public Safety did not indicate if Cunningham’s vehicle had been stolen.
Investigators have reported Lindsey as saying he was in a gang and “frequently beat people up for money.”
When he was interviewed in the Stradford murder case, Lindsey claimed he was a member of the “Gangster Disciples.”
Lindsey has a significant number of tattoos on his body. He once said the display made him look mean and just a little crazy – leaving people not exactly sure what to make of him. He said his appearance tended “to freak people out.”
Of the four people arrested in the Stradford murder, Lindsey’s is the most familiar to area law enforcement. His criminal history goes back to 2010 when he was a teenager.
Through the years, Lindsey’s charges have included possessing a defaced firearm, being a felon in possession of a weapon, residential burglary, theft of property, possession of contraband items in the Baxter County Detention Center, theft by receiving and drug possession.
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