Sydney Sutherland affidavit: Suspect joined community search for victim after he buried her
10/19/2020 5:03 pm PDT
via KAIT:
NEWPORT, Ark. (KAIT) -- A man accused of capital murder and rape in the death of a Jackson County woman earlier this year struck the woman with his vehicle, then committed rape, prosecutors said in a probable cause affidavit released Friday.
The court records on Quake Lewellyn, 28, were released in the Sydney Sutherland case. Lewellyn was also arrested in August on suspicion of kidnapping and abuse of a corpse in the case.
Police said in the affidavit that Lewellyn saw Sutherland, 25, running on County Road 41 before she disappeared and that a search of his phone netted evidence in the case.
“Lewellyn stated that he struck Sutherland with his vehicle. Lewellyn stated he then loaded Sutherland up into his pickup and transported her to the area indicated on the location services application,” the affidavit noted.
State Police said in the affidavit that Lewellyn told them that he then raped and buried Sutherland. Lewellyn, who is being held without bond, is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 29 for arraignment.
Sutherland was reported missing on Aug. 19. Authorities found her iPhone on Aug. 20 in a field near her home. Sutherland's body was found Aug. 21, just yards from where the app indicated where Lewellyn was, authorities said in the affidavit.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports the Jackson County Sheriff's Office received the call about Sutherland's disappearance about 7 p.m. Aug. 19. The affidavit doesn't reveal who made the call.
Lewellyn rammed her with a pickup as she jogged along a rural highway before raping and burying her in a field outside Newport, according to the court documents.
When a community search party was formed to look for Sutherland, Lewellyn, who is from Jonesboro, was among those who took part in the search effort, authorities said.
The Democrat-Gazette reports Sutherland was a registered nurse at Unity Health-Harris Medical Center who had just passed her boards months earlier, her friends said.
Jackson County Sheriff David Lucas said last month that Lewellyn saw Sutherland jogging as he drove by, made a U-turn and then attacked her. Lucas also said it was his understanding that Lewellyn and Sutherland knew each other, but not "particularly well."
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