Jersey Bridgeman Suspected Killer Arrested as Community Mourns
Police in Arkansas have arrested a man suspected of killing a 6-year-old girl whose body was found two days before Thanksgiving.
Zachary Dewayne Holly, 28, of Bentonville, Arkansas, was arrested and charged with kidnapping, residential burglary and the murder of Jersey Bridgeman.
Bridgeman was reported missing the morning of Nov. 20 and police discovered her body shortly after in an abandoned house close to her home. Holly also lived close by.
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Police stated that at the time of the girl's death she was staying with relatives, but have released no more information such as the cause of death in order not to compromise the investigation.
"Many questions related to this investigation and arrest will be answered by the affidavit of probable cause, which will be released on Wednesday," Police Chief Jon Simpson said in a statement, adding that the state's crime lab helped expedite the arrest.
The young girl made headlines when her father and stepmother were convicted after reports reached police that she was being chained to a dresser in her home.
The girl told officers she slept on the floor in the same room as her father, David Bridgeman, and her stepmother, Jana Bridgeman, according to a court document. She also stated that she was chained to the dresser with a dog collar that was attached to her ankle.
"She said that Jana and David chain her to the dresser because she had gotten up and eaten some pies, cereal, and bread," Rogers Police Detective Larry Taylor wrote in the court affidavit.
Court documents indicate that David Bridgeman told an investigator that his daughter got up while they were sleeping and took medication and food items. He and his wife decided to chain her to the dresser at night so she would not leave the room.
When news of the girl's death spread throughout the community, a gathering of over 100 people attended a candlelight vigil in her memory.
