Suspect arrested in stabbing death last week in NLR

Police arrested a 20-yearold Wednesday on murder charges related to a stabbing one week ago.

Officers were called to a disturbance on West 11th Street on Aug. 29 and found Joseph Lee Venson, 47, in the street with multiple stab wounds in his upper legs, according to a news release.

Venson was pronounced dead at about 2:15 a.m. at Baptist Health Medical Center-North Little Rock.

North Little Rock officers Wednesday charged Jasmine Ayers with second-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence, according to the news release.

She is being held without bail in the Pulaski County jail.

The original 911 call indicated that multiple people were arguing loudly near 11th Street, but by the time officers arrived, Venson was alone and bleeding in the roadway, Lt. Brian Dedrick said last week.

Officers identified Ayers as a suspect through interviews, according to the news release.

Venson was a construction worker with a last listed address in Jacksonville, according to police documents. Police have not said why the man was in North Little Rock on the night of Aug. 29.

In a photo submitted for his obituary, Venson smiles crookedly, has a bushy beard and large, rimmed glasses. Days after his death, someone placed a bouquet of flowers and four brightly colored balloons near the place he died.