LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Court documents reveal a Russellville man got out of jail and was back just two days later for shooting and killing his wife.
According to Russellville police, 48-year-old Jeff Ross is facing a first-degree murder charge after shooting his wife, 28-year-old Shantrelle Ross, Sept. 22.
She later died at the hospital.
“Domestic cases usually have bad endings,” said John Felts, the Arkansas Parole Board chairman.
According to Arkansas Community Correction documents from July 24, Jeff kicked down one of their four kids’ bedroom doors, pointed a knife at Shantrelle, and said he was going to kill her. While officers arrested Jeff, he turned to her and said, “You’re dead, b****.”
“A lot of times, they put themselves back in those situations again of being victimized by an abuser,” Felts said.
According to court documents, the couple had been married since 2012.
In 2013, Jeff was arrested on a felony drug charge and later paroled. Then after the July 2016 domestic violence incident, he was back behind bars facing another felony: aggravated assault.
However, David Gibbons, the fifth judicial district prosecuting attorney, got a letter from Shantrelle that changed that. In it, she wrote she did not want to file charges, citing she felt some blame because alcohol was involved and she accused him of cheating.
“A case like this you really don’t have any choice,” Felts said. “If the prosecutor says there are no charges then it’s pretty much open and closed.”
Jeff was paroled Sept. 20 but arrested only two days later, accused of shooting and killing Shantrelle at their home, just as he said he would back on July 24.
“You hate that,” Felts said. “They certainly should help the prosecution because as we’ve seen in this case, it had a very, very, very bad ending to it.”
Gibbons said he is now trying to find ways to prosecute a suspect without the victim’s consent. A supreme court decision from 2004 currently prevents him from doing so.
