Murder charges filed after 2-year-old drowned learning to swim

VAN BUREN — A 2-year-old who died in June was ruled to have drowned, according to Arkansas authorities, who also say the boy had injuries indicative of abuse.

The child’s mother and stepfather have now been arrested more than six months after the boy’s death, news outlets report.

The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office said Dakota Shawn Hays was trying to help the boy learn how to swim as they and Annastacia Grace Atkins were in a pool with two other children, according to KNWA. One of the other kids told deputies Hays was “throwing” the boy into the water, 5News reported, citing court documents. The toddler was also observed being pushed under water to retrieve items at the bottom of the pool.

Hays and the 2-year-old were later in the pool alone, and he went to Atkins and said “something was wrong,” according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

She began to see the child “shaking as though he was having a seizure.”

The child, whose identity has not been publicly disclosed, died after being taken to a hospital, KNWA reported. A CT scan of the child’s lungs revealed his death was “consistent with drowning,” with an autopsy revealing he died from a “prolonged lack of oxygen to the brain,” authorities said. But according to the court documents, also obtained by KHBS, the boy had noticeable cuts and scrapes to his head and body. A 4-year-old in the home said Hays and Atkins often hit the toddler with a wooden stick.

Hays denied harming the child, telling investigators the boy fell off a countertop the night before he died, KHBS reported.

“Dakota advised he thought it was a freak accident and that he was scared because he had not been in trouble his whole life,” the Democrat-Gazette reported, citing the affidavit.

“Dakota advised in the interview he would never hurt a child after being asked about the bruising.”

However, authorities called the boy’s injuries consistent with “abusive trauma,” according to 5News.

Hays and Atkins were both jailed Jan. 13 on first-degree murder charges, records show. Hays, 29, faces an additional charge of first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor and was jailed on a $1 million bond, jail records show.

Atkins, 24, was also charged

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with permitting abuse of a minor, according to the records. She remains in jail as of Jan. 15 on a $750,000 bond.

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Child rapist receives life sentence plus 164 years

CONWAY — A Conway man who raped a 6-year-old-girl is set to spend the rest of his life in prison. A Faulkner County jury on Tuesday found Jesse Spaar, 35, guilty on counts of rape and criminal attempt to commit rape, three counts of sexual assault in the second degree and counts of sexually grooming a child and sexual indecency with a child. Spaar received a life sentence for the rape charge plus a total of 164 years for the remaining six charges.

'Jesse Spaar committed heinous crimes against a young child,' Prosecuting Attorney Carol Crews told the Log Cabin Democrat on Thursday. 'Thankfully, the Conway Police Department conducted a top-notch investigation and the victim bravely confronted him in trial, giving the jury the evidence they needed to put him behind bars for the rest of his life. This office will continue to seek maximum sentences for monsters that hurt children.'

The investigation into Spaar first began on March 3, 2023, when detectives with the Conway Police Department went to Arkansas Children's Hospital to interview the family of a 2-year-old boy who had suffered a skull fracture. While there, detectives interviewed the girl, who was 8 years old at that time.

The girl told detectives that Spaar, the 2-year-old boy's father, 'forced her to view videos' of an adult man raping a child, Spaar's arrest affidavit read. She also told detectives that Spaar raped her with sex toys when she lived at his trailer with her mother in 2020.

In addition to the videos and rape, the girl said Spaar made her watch as he penetrated a sex doll. She identified him as the adult man in the videos he made her watch and recognized the bedroom the videos were filmed in as his.

On March 7, 2023, the Conway Police Department executed a search warrant on Spaar's trailer. When officers arrived, they found a woman and her six juvenile children living there with him.

Some of the children were naked when police arrived and their hair was 'severely matted and appeared to have resulted from years of neglect,' the affidavit read.

'The floors of the residence were covered with trash, animal feces, discarded diapers and rotten food,' the affidavit read. 'There were holes in the floors exposing the ground under the trailer. The children's room contained several twin bed mattresses on the floor. The beds did not contain pillows or blankets.'

The search warrant yielded the discovery of sex dolls that matched the description the girl provided in her interview.

Police also found a pistol that matched the description the girl provided when she recounted how Spaar 'threatened to shoot her with a gun if she told her mother about the sexual abuse.'

Spaar 'denied the allegations but presented several deceptive behaviors throughout the interview.' He said 'that if the incident occurred, it occurred when he was intoxicated.' He admitted to penetrating a sex doll while the girl was present at his residence, telling detectives 'that he did not have a door to his bedroom' and the girl 'could have seen him performing sexual acts or viewing pornography.' He denied allowing or forcing the girl to watch the sexual acts.

'When [the detective] informed Spaar that he was being charged with rape, he was informed that there were allegations of him penetrating [the girl],' the affidavit read.

'Spaar replied that his penis was too big for [the girl].'

This isn't the first time Spaar has been accused of raping a juvenile girl. In 2015, he was accused of 'forcibly open mouth kissing' and later raping a 7-year-old girl while she played a video game. However, in 2017, the state declined 'to move forward after additional evidence' came 'to light in preparation for trial.'

'The mom of that victim testified in sentencing [on Tuesday],' Crews told the Log Cabin on Wednesday. 'She said it was her decision not to move forward with the charges but told about what happened.'

In 2012, Spaar was found guilty on single counts of aggravated assault on a family or household member, third degree domestic battery and revocation.

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