Life sentence for Bradford man convicted in machete murder

SEARCY — “Those who sin while drunk must be punished while they’re sober,” 17th Judicial District Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Abram Skarda said Friday morning during the sentencing hearing for Michael Joe Doerhoff before he was given life in prison.

Doerhoff, 60, of Bradford, had been convicted by the jury Thursday of firstdegree murder in the Dec.

10, 2021, machete death of Tommy Wade Byrd, 61, of Bradford. He and his defense team said they will be filing an appeal.

After court dismissed, Byrd’s brother Wayne noted the conviction and sentence “ain’t going to bring my brother back but it’s going to give us a little bit of justice though. It’s a bad deal all the way around. Two people’s lives. He ruined both of their lives, and everybody’s in our family. I am kind of speechless.”

Cara Davis, the wife of Tommy Byrd’s stepson, Jeff, said, “No matter what happened here, our lives will never be the same.”

During the victim impact statements, Jeff Davis said his mom married Byrd when he was 3 and Byrd had been a father to him his whole life. He said he had amazing memories of Byrd and his death means the loss of a father, grandfather and brother.

“Kind and loving” were two words that Jeff Davis used to describe Tommy as his dad. The thing that really made him happy, he said, was when Tommy told him that he “was just about perfect” in his eyes.

Davis said Tommy was his 8-year-old son’s favorite “pampaw” and he should still be here, but now there will be no holidays or birthdays together as a family with him. “There will be a void now that he is gone.” He said he would do anything for just one more day of Tommy tending his horses with his son and to get to go golfing with him again.

Cara Davis, who said she married Jeff in 2017, said nothing can prepare you for the amount of mental strength needed for something like this. She said Tommy was “one of the most genuine people” and “an amazing father-in-law,” he would do anything to help anyone and his loss is most sad for her children.

She said they adored their pampaw and their eyes would light up, and now he has been taken away from them.

Kourtnee Byrd said Tommy was her father-in-law, with her having been married to his son, Daniel, for six years now. She said Daniel was not a public speaker so she was sharing his words.

On Dec. 10, Daniel was at a company Christmas party when he received a message from Jeff that his dad had been murdered.

Daniel said through his wife that Byrd was kind and humble and had respect for everyone, and their lives will now be dramatically changed. They never again will be able to hug and there will be no horse riding or golf conversations and he never will get the chance to introduce their daughter to him.

Wayne’s wife, Tonya, said Tommy’s brother has not been the same since Tommy was killed. She said nieces, nephews and their grandchildren loved Tommy and he let them ride his racehorses and they just don’t understand that they can’t see him anymore. “Tommy would give you the shirt off his back even if he didn’t know them. He would not hurt a fly. He was not a violent person.”

A friend of Doerhoff’s, Doug Houck, 65, gave a statement on his behalf.

Houck said he has known Doerhoff for nine years and they met at Alcohol Anonymous meetings. At one point, Houck was his AA sponsor for four years.

He said he and Doerhoff shared another thing in common – they both were veterans.

Houck said that Doerhoff helped him with farming

Continued on Page 9 STATE NEWS (cont.)

and at one time, Doerhoff got a washing machine for someone who needed it and gave him vegetables out of his garden. He also was a handyman for AA, mowing the yards of the clubhouses where the meeting would take place and also bought “smoking stands” for outside of the AA clubhouses from Jacksonville to Searcy. He said Doerhoff lived in Jacksonville for a while.

Houck said he knew that Doerhoff had PTSD pretty badly from his time in the military and he was trying to make amends with his son in Florida who was awarded with a Purple Heart. (Doerhoff later said it was two Purple Hearts.)

He said Doerhoff worried about his son’s medical stress and about his service. Houck stopped being Doerhoff’s AA sponsor in 2018. He said Doerhoff went to Florida for a while and “slipped” and quit coming to meetings but they still talked to each other.

Prosecuting Attorney Becky McCoy asked him if he knew about Doerhoff’s prior criminal history of a terroristic act. Houck said this was when Doerhoff was in Pulaski County for a year, maintaining a residence in Jacksonville.

McCoy said Doerhoff had taken “multiple bites at the apple.” She asked the jury to sentence him to life in prison and “that’s what is justice for Tommy Byrd.”

Green said “relapse happens” and people have to “get back on the horse.” He also said Tommy was drinking the day of the crime and relapse is part of trying to get better. He said Doerhoff was on probation for three years and never violated it, and he should not be defined by Dec. 10, 2021.

Green told the jury he didn’t believe the sentence should be life in prison because, for example, if they gave him 20 years, he would be 80 when he got out. He told the jury they were the voice of the community and a just and fair punishment was all he was asking for.

Skarda recalled the time of the year the crime happened,

saying that Daniel

got that call at the Christmas party about his dad during what should be a time of joy in life and a time of gift giving.

“Forever more, this time of year will be marked by that event.”

Doerhoff was given the chance to speak before the sentence was read and turned around smiling, giving the family of Tommy Byrd a thumbs-up. “I regret that it happened and has caused hearts to be sad,” he said. … “I didn’t want to do it. He forced me to do it.”

Green said afterward that “we were disappointed in the verdict and I am certainly disappointed in the sentence. We feel the situation was very tragic and we have a lot of compassion for what the Byrd family is going through, but we just felt like there was a case of self-defense here. But we respect that the jury saw it differently.”

Jeff Davis told The Daily Citizen that he “really appreciated law enforcement,” mentioning Detectives Joshua Biviano and Andrew Palmer as well as prosecutors McCoy and Skarda.

“I really appreciate everything they did,” he said.

“They all were extremely nice and very helpful. Ms.

Shirley [Reid], who sat there in front of us and kept us informed, was very helpful and I really want to say thank you to all of those people. They were extremely nice people and they did a wonderful job. I can’t tell you enough how great they were and how wonderful they were to work with.”

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LITTLE ROCK — The state Attorney General’s office is contacting school districts statewide to warn them of a predatory marketing scheme that dupes local businesses into paying hundreds of dollars for sports merchandise, T-shirts, and athletic event items such as banners and cups.

These scammers tell businesses that the promotional products help sponsor or support their local teams, but the scammers are the only ones winning money in this game.

“Communities rally around their school sports teams and while these scammers may seem to be cheerleaders – they are really crooks,” said Attorney General Leslie Rutledge.

Continued on Page 15 STATE NEWS (cont.)

“Preying on the generosity of Arkansans is unacceptable and hurts our legitimate businesses’ ability to support their local schools, boosters and charitable organizations. I will not let scam artists win this game.”

The office has received reports of an out-of-state company that is using predatory and deceptive tactics to sell local businesses promotional items that are promised to support local schools and their booster clubs, according to a news release issued Wednesday.

These unsolicited items are often delivered directly to the Athletic Director or simply addressed to the “Cheer Coach” or someone similar who can never use the items. As a result, the scammed business’s merchandise remains in the box where it does not benefit the school or the local business. The Attorney General issued the following

warnings:

• School districts do not accept unsolicited “gifts” of spirit wear such as banners,

posters, footballs, and

stadium cushions.

• Contact your local school’s athletic program or booster club to confirm that any items you are ordering are going to support the school’s programs.

• Get confirmation from the school that the items you ordered were delivered.

A school’s name, insignia, and sports team logo are often trademarked.

Unauthorized use can result in civil liability.

If your business has been scammed contact our office at 800-482-8982 or visit ArkansasAG.gov. to file a complaint.

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LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas State Police, Little Rock Police Department and the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office are jointly investigating 11 shootings that occurred over the weekend.

As of 9 p.m. Sunday, authorities had accounted for three deaths and three people wounded who were still being treated at that time.

The shootings occurred at:

• 1:37 p.m. Saturday at 9401 Mabelvale Cutoff, no injuries.

• 1:53 p.m. Saturday at 4022 Frazier Pike, one person wounded.

• 7:20 p.m. Saturday, one person killed at the 900 block of South Rodney Parham.

• 12:58 p.m. Sunday, one person killed at Frazier Pike and 3M Road.

• 2:39 p.m. Sunday, one person injured at Interstate 30 (eastbound) and 65th Street.

• 2:44 p.m. Sunday, one person injured at Interstate 440, near Springer Street.

• Shortly before 3 p.m.

Sunday, at least three shootings, beginning at Interstate 630 (westbound) near the Big Rock interchange, followed by an incident near I-630 and Shackelford, then moving toward the intersection of Markham Street and Bowman, no injuries reported.

• Approximately 4 p.m.

Sunday, a shooting at 13111 West Markham, no injuries reported.

• 5:14 p.m. Sunday, a shooting inside a convenience store at 6500 Mabelvale Cutoff, one person was killed and another was critically wounded.

“Presently the investigating law enforcement agencies are working to determine what connection, if any, the shooting incidents might be connected,” ASP spokesman Bill Sadler said. So far, police have linked the west Little Rock intersection shooting and the convenience store killing, police said Monday.

At 5:45 p.m. Sunday near Roosevelt Road and State Street, two people were taken into custody following a pursuit involving state police troopers. The individuals are believed to be connected to at least one of the shooting incidents, Sadler said. No further details about the suspects were provided as of press time Monday.

“Following the incidents Sunday, special agents from the state police, along with detectives from Little Rock Police Department and Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office have unified their efforts to share information and investigate all the shooting incidents,” Sadler said.