BENTON COUNTY : Neighbor killed after threats, home invasion
Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2008
A Prairie Creek resident shot and killed a neighbor who had kicked in his door Tuesday evening and tried to assault him, police said.
Johnny Hawthorne shot Mekin Kantaphone with a handgun once in the head in self-defense inside Hawthorne’s home, Benton County sheriff’s Capt. Mike Sydoriak said.
The prosecuting attorney’s office will decide whether the shooting was justified, Sydoriak said.
Kantaphone, 34, sent threatening text and voice messages to Hawthorne, 25, earlier in the day, he said.
“He was threatening to beat him and kill him,” Sydoriak said.
“There was certainly that assumption by the deceased that there was a relationship between the shooter and the deceased’s wife,” said Benton County sheriff’s deputy Doug Gay. “Whether there is any validity to that remains under investigation.” Kantaphone was a weight lifter who was much larger than Hawthorne, Sydoriak said. Kantaphone recently worked as a mechanic for American Airlines. He exercised regularly at World Gym in Bentonville.
“He was in here every day, always happy and friendly,” said Travis, a World Gym employee who wouldn’t give his last name.
On Tuesday evening, Kantaphone and his brother, Ole Kantaphone, drove to Hawthorne’s home at 8549 Wild Cherry Drive.
Ole Kantaphone tried to stop his brother from going to the door, but he wouldn’t listen, Sydoriak said.
“He tried to reason with him and stop him, but he couldn’t hold him back,” Sydoriak said.
Police got a 911 call about the shooting at 6: 40 p.m.
Sydoriak said Mekin Kantaphone lived in the neighborhood but he didn’t have the address.
His body has been sent to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock for an autopsy.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
