Fayetteville man pleads innocent to murder charge
FAYETTEVILLE — A Fayetteville man pleaded innocent Wednesday in Washington County Circuit Court to a murder charge related to a beating death in late September.
David Osorio-Piedra, 32, of Fayetteville was arrested Oct. 6 in connection with the Sept. 30 death of Willie McAway, 49, at an apartment complex at 1557 N. Leverett Ave.
Police believe Osorio-Piedra beat McAway to death at the Fayetteville complex on Sept. 30, left him to die and disposed of evidence linking himself to the crime.
Osorio-Piedra pleaded innocent to one count of capital murder and one count of tampering with physical evidence and was given a May 24 court date before Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay. He’s being held at the Washington County jail in lieu of $750,000 bond pending trial.
If convicted of capital murder, Osorio-Piedra faces either life in prison or the death penalty.
Police were called about noon Sept. 30 by a witness who found McAway on the floor inside his apartment, according to a police report. Other people nearby came to the apartment and tried to revive McAway without success. Emergency personnel arrived and found McAway dead on the floor with obvious injuries.
Detectives recovered a memory card from a motion-sensing surveillance camera pointed outside the front door of the apartment. Osorio-Piedra could be seen first arriving at McAway’s apartment during the day Sept. 29 from his own home just to the north, the report says. He appeared to leave and come back during the day, but stayed through the evening. A woman also was visiting McAway’s home.
During the course of the evening, the woman and Osorio-Piedra went to a nearby convenience store on North Street and came back to McAway’s home. About 2:50 a.m. Sept. 30, the woman could be seen fleeing from the apartment screaming with Osorio-Piedra following her with a knife in his right hand, according to the report. The woman’s car could be heard screeching away.
Osorio-Piedra returned to McAway’s home where McAway could be heard telling Osorio-Piedra to “put the knife down,” followed by screams, the report says.
Police believe Osorio-Piedra turned the camera off at that point. Osorio-Piedra told police he was aware of the camera and how it operates, according to the report.
The Arkansas State Crime Laboratory determined McAway’s manner of death was homicide. An autopsy revealed evidence of strangulation, bone fractures and multiple blunt force injuries to the head and body, as well as lacerations.
Bloody footprints at the crime scene resembled a pair of shoes Osorio-Piedra appeared to be wearing the night McAway was killed, the report says.
Officers spoke with Osorio-Piedra at the Police Department. Osorio-Piedra said he was drinking with McAway at McAway’s home. Osorio-Piedra said he went “on a bender” and couldn’t remember the next morning what happened.
According to police, Osorio-Piedra didn’t deny killing McAway and said he took two clonazepam pills in addition to drinking alcohol that night. Clonazepam is a sedative used to treat seizures, panic disorder and anxiety.