One of three men charged with participating in a drug robbery gone wrong in which a man was shot pled guilty to charges against him during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Tuesday (January 21).
Twenty-one-year-old Dylan Andrew Decker of Norfork was sentenced to 20 years in prison after entering his guilty plea to aggravated residential burglary and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
A charge of attempted murder was dropped by the state. Deputy Prosecutor Chris Carter told Circuit Judge John Putman that the attempted murder charge was dropped because Decker had not used a weapon.
The others involved were 18-year-old Tyler Yount who lists a Harrison address on court papers and 21-year-old David Brace of Flippin.
If Decker had gone on trial, Yount and Brace were on the states witness list but the plea made a trial unnecessary.
THE INCIDENT
Mountain Home police received a call just before 6:30 a.m. February 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 said he did not know who shot him. One of the intruders was reported to have worn a ski mask and the other a red bandana.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the victim returned fire and one of the intruders was hit. Yount was identified as the intruder who was shot.
He was first treated at Baxter Health and then flown to a Springfield hospital.
Yount later identified the third man involved in the attempted robbery as a person he knew only as “wheels,” because he was confined to a wheelchair.
Brace has been in a wheelchair since being seriously injured in a late November 2021 car wreck.
On the day of the robbery, according to investigators, Brace remained in the car while Yount and Decker walked to the victim’s home.
When Yount was interviewed, he is alleged to have admitted kicking the door open and entering the residence with the intent of stealing drugs.
BAD DRUG DEAL?
Investigators were told that the reason behind the incident was a “bad deal” Decker said he had been involved in with a female who lived in the residence.
Brace told police it was Yount who contacted him and told him about the plan to steal marijuana from the victim’s home and told Brace he would pick him up. Brace said Yount was aware marijuana was kept in the residence.
Decker pointed the finger at Brace as the one who devised the plan to steal marijuana from the residence. Decker said he was to be paid $1,000 by Yount to assist.
Brace was also alleged to have provided Yount and Decker with the pistols the pair used in the foiled robbery
Brace, who is free on a $100,000 bond, also has an active criminal case in Marion County in which he is accused of stealing items, including a handgun, from a residence where he had been a guest.
When Brace was located, he was found to have the reportedly stolen pistol as well as drugs and drug paraphernalia in his possession.
The incident was reported to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office on June 15, 2022.
A trial date has been set for early February in Brace’s Marion County case
Yount is currently living with his parents in South Arkansas. His mother and other family members appeared during an earlier session of circuit court and asked for a bond reduction and laid out plans they had to ensure Yount stayed out of trouble and made all of his court appearances.
The bond was lowered from $500,000 to $150,000. Yount was reported to have a job waiting. He is also required to wear an ankle monitor and is basically considered under house arrest with a few exceptions.
Yount’s original lawyer recently withdrew from the case and he has been trying to obtain new representation.
Decker has been an inmate in the Grimes Unit of the state prison system at Newport. He was sent down when the new charges stemming from the robbery/shooting triggered a revocation of his sentence in an earlier drug-related case.
SENTENCING INTERUPTS MOTHER’S TRIAL
At the time Decker was sentenced, his mother, Jessica Trivitt, was on trial charged with taking money for pool construction projects but delivering little or no material and doing little or no work.
When Decker’s sentence was announced Trivitt and other family members became emotional and had to leave the courtroom for a brief period.
WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady® NSI