Tyler Yount (Photo courtesy of Baxter County Sheriff’s Office)
One of the three people involved in an attempted theft of drugs from a Mountain Home residence that involved gunfire and left the home’s occupant wounded appeared during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court on December 2.
Eighteen-year-old Tyler Yount, who is currently living with relatives in south Arkansas, is charged with criminal attempt to commit murder and aggravated residential burglary.
The announcement made at an earlier court session that Yount’s current attorney, William “Bill” James Jr. of Little Rock, was asking to withdraw from the case presented significant roadblocks to going to trial.
Yount’s final pretrial appearance was set for Dec. 2 and his jury trial for Dec. 9.
The lawyer filed a motion to withdraw on Nov. 11, listing a number of reasons including that Yount had “not met his contractual obligations to the James Law Firm.”
On Monday, Deputy Prosecutor Chris Carter told the court he had contacted the James Law Firm to discuss the motion to withdraw but had received no response.
Yount himself was reported to have been shot twice by the homeowner during the incident and was initially taken to a Springfield hospital and brought back to the Baxter County Detention Center when released.
His initial bond was set at $500,000 but later reduced to $150,000.
Yount’s mother and other family members appeared during a recent court session to ask for a bond reduction and to lay out plans they had to ensure Yount stayed out of trouble and made all of his court appearances.
His mother told the court he would live with her and her husband in Crossett and would have a job waiting. The other members of the household include a 19-year-old woman with whom Yount has a relationship and the small baby they share.
Circuit Judge John Putman said the charges against Yount were very serious, and the family would bear responsibility for closely monitoring Yount’s activities.
Judge Putman reduced Yount’s bond to $150,000. The judge said if the family was able to obtain the bond, Yount would be under modified house arrest while living with his mother and stepfather in south Arkansas and would be required to wear an ankle monitor and have a job.
The state objected to any reduction of Yount’s bond based on the nature of the crime.
The former defense attorneys have filed motions to suppress statements made by the defendant, one to produce any evidence that might show preferential treatment of possible witnesses in the case and to disclose any expert witnesses who might be called to testify during the trial.
The cases of the other two men allegedly involved in the shooting, 20-year-old David Brace of Flippin and 21-year-old Dylan Decker of Norfork, remain active.
THE CRIME
Mountain Home police received a call just before 6:30 a.m. Feb. 25 reporting a shooting at a mobile home along East 16th Street. When officers arrived on scene, they discovered a male in a bedroom of the residence who had been shot in the stomach.
The victim who lived in the home said he did not know who shot him. One of the intruders was reported to have worn a ski mask the other a red bandanna.
The victim said he returned fire. Officers were contacted and told a male, later identified as Yount, had arrived at the emergency room at Baxter Health with a gunshot wound.
Yount was interviewed while waiting to be flown to a Springfield hospital.
He is reported to have admitted to entering the residence with the intent of stealing drugs. Yount identified Decker as being involved.
Yount said a third man, who was confined to a wheelchair, was also a member of the party, but he did not know him. He said he only knew the man as “Wheels” and that he was confined to a wheelchair. The third man was eventually identified as Brace.
According to investigators, Brace remained in the car while Yount and Decker walked to the house from where they had parked the vehicle.
Yount was reported to have told officers that he kicked the door to the residence twice before it gave way, allowing him to go inside. He had a pistol in his waistband. He said the victim was in a bedroom. The victim fired a pistol and hit Yount twice.
Yount admitted he shot the victim during the incident and that he fled the residence and was taken to the hospital.
Investigators reported finding blood in the entry, bedroom, the front porch and the driveway.
Police also contacted Decker, who pointed the finger at Brace as the one who had devised the plan to steal drugs from the residence. Decker said he was to be paid $1,000 by Yount to assist.
Yount allegedly picked up Brace on his way to Mountain Home and later pick up Decker near Mountain Home Christian Academy.
When they got to the residence, Brace is alleged to have provided firearms to the group.
Brace said it was Yount who contacted him, told him about the plan to steal marijuana from the victim’s home and told Brace he would pick him up. Brace also said Decker knew there were drugs in the residence.
Investigators were told that, in the past, Decker had had a “bad deal” with a female living in the residence and wanted to get the marijuana from her.
Brace told investigators Decker was driving and that Decker wanted to abandon Yount as the men were fleeing the scene of the shooting.
Brace said he was not in favor of leaving Yount. He said he told Decker that the wounded man needed to go to the hospital.
Yount is reported to have told the other suspects he had dropped his gun at the scene. A black pistol was found in the driveway, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Decker is alleged to have taken Brace to Flippin and Yount to the Baxter Health emergency room.
The initial bond for Decker and Brace was also set at $500,000.
BRACE WAS FREE ON SIGNATURE BOND
At the time of the incident, Brace was free on a signature bond in a Marion County criminal case in which he was charged with stealing items from a home, including a handgun.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Brace had been among a group of people visiting in the home of the victim. After the visitors left, the residents noticed several items missing, including a .45-caliber handgun.
Two days after the report, former Marion County Sheriff Clinton Evans contacted Brace as he sat in a car parked at the Marion County Law Enforcement Center.
Evans reported the odor of marijuana was coming from the vehicle. A search did turn illegal substances including an assortment of pills.
The gun reported stolen from the residence was also found in the car. The victim provided the case that held the gun, and the serial numbers matched the gun found in the vehicle.
A signature bond is a promise made by defendants that they will pay a set amount of money if they fail to appear in court.
In Brace’s case, the amount had been set at $5,000.
Unlike other bonds, defendants are not required to put up any cash to obtain a signature bond. It is based on “trust in the defendant’s integrity.”
A document concerning the signature bond is filed in Brace’s Marion County case, but it has not been signed by Brace on a line that seems intended to acknowledge a “promise to appear.”
Medical reasons are often the reason no cash bonds are approved.
Brace is confined to a wheelchair. He was seriously injured in a car wreck in late November 2021.
Braces mother made an earlier appearance in Baxter County Circuit Court to ask that her son receive the medical treatments necessary because of injuries he received in the accident.
Circuit Judge John Putman said the woman needed to make the request to the sheriff.
A civil lawsuit filed against the driver of the vehicle involved in the crash is pending in Marion County.
When the recent shooting took place, Brace was free to move about even though he had no cash bond in place in his new Marion County case except his word that he would show up for court appearances.
Charges involving the shooting resulted in the filing of a petition to revoke Decker’s probation on a drug case filed in May last year.
He pled guilty and was sentenced to five years probation. A special condition of his probation was to complete the 14th Judicial District’s Drug Court Program.
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