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The Arkadelphia man awaiting trial in connection with a July 4, 2010, murder of Dominic Whitaker entered a guilty plea just days after he testified against the woman who killed Whitaker.
According to a judgment and disposition filed last week in the Clark County Circuit Clerk’s office, 25-year-old Jerel Yarber received a jail sentence of 493 days, 18 months of probation and $470 in fines for his role in helping move Whitaker’s burned remains to an area near Dalark.
Yarber was charged with abuse of a corpse, an offense punishable by up to six years in prison, and hindering apprehension. He entered a plea of guilty on Dec. 6. Nelson pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in October; Circuit Judge Robert McCallum sentenced her a total of 31 years in prison earlier this month after a two-day hearing.
Yarber testified in that hearing that he received a call from Kayla Nelson just moments after she shot Whitaker twice in the back, and that she requested his help in moving the remains. Yarber said he was at work in Arkadelphia when he received the call, then, after his shift was finished, he drove to Nelson’s Church Drive home in East Clark County to help her remove the body.
Yarber testified that the two placed Whitaker’s remains in a “tote box,” placed them in the trunk of his car, then drove about five miles from Nelson’s residence to dump the remains on the side of the road, where they were found weeks later by a motorist who frequently drove in the area.
Yarber was arrested in late July 2010, just two days after Nelson, whom authorities arrested about two weeks after Whitaker’s family reported him missing.
The Arkadelphia man awaiting trial in connection with a July 4, 2010, murder of Dominic Whitaker entered a guilty plea just days after he testified against the woman who killed Whitaker.
According to a judgment and disposition filed last week in the Clark County Circuit Clerk’s office, 25-year-old Jerel Yarber received a jail sentence of 493 days, 18 months of probation and $470 in fines for his role in helping move Whitaker’s burned remains to an area near Dalark.
Yarber was charged with abuse of a corpse, an offense punishable by up to six years in prison, and hindering apprehension. He entered a plea of guilty on Dec. 6. Nelson pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in October; Circuit Judge Robert McCallum sentenced her a total of 31 years in prison earlier this month after a two-day hearing.
Yarber testified in that hearing that he received a call from Kayla Nelson just moments after she shot Whitaker twice in the back, and that she requested his help in moving the remains. Yarber said he was at work in Arkadelphia when he received the call, then, after his shift was finished, he drove to Nelson’s Church Drive home in East Clark County to help her remove the body.
Yarber testified that the two placed Whitaker’s remains in a “tote box,” placed them in the trunk of his car, then drove about five miles from Nelson’s residence to dump the remains on the side of the road, where they were found weeks later by a motorist who frequently drove in the area.
Yarber was arrested in late July 2010, just two days after Nelson, whom authorities arrested about two weeks after Whitaker’s family reported him missing.
