Granddaughter, 26, charged in killing

Wednesday, June 13, 2018

BENTONVILLE -- Prosecutors have charged a Bentonville woman with killing her grandmother.

Andrea Lea Wilson, 26, was charged Thursday with capital murder and tampering with evidence. She is accused of acting with premeditation and deliberation in killing Ruby Ross of Pea Ridge.

Ross, 81, was found dead May 16 in her rural Pea Ridge home. Wilson is accused of hitting her grandmother at least four times in the head with a hammer, according to court documents.

Wilson faces life imprisonment without the benefit of parole or the death penalty if she's convicted of capital murder. Prosecutors have not said if they will seek the death penalty.

She could be sentenced to up to six years in prison if convicted of the tampering charge.

Detectives with the Benton County Sheriff's Office found a bloody hammer with white hair in an outhouse behind Ross' house, according to court documents. The hammer was in a black plastic trash bag that contained rubber gloves with blood on them, a large butcher-type knife and bank statements with Andrea Wilson's name on them, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

Leann Ross said she went to her mother's home May 16 and found Ruby Ross in bed with blood spatter on the headboard. Leann Ross said her niece was at her mother's home that day and may have been the last person to see her alive, according to the police report.

Detectives seized items from Wilson after her May 21 arrest, including her purse, which appeared to have blood on it, according to the affidavit. Blood was found on the exterior door leading to Wilson's apartment at 7804 S.W. Blue Jay Lane, Apt. 22, according to court documents.

Detectives also found possible blood in her vehicle and on 5-gallon buckets in her car, according to the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, the property at 11001 Blue Jay Road in Pea Ridge was split into three tracts, with tracts 1 and 2 in Andrea Wilson's and her brother Greg Wilson's names. Ross had filed a new deed removing the two from the property, according to the affidavit.

Her arraignment is scheduled for June 18 in Circuit Judge Robin Green's courtroom.

General News on 06/13/2018